Chicago Cubs: The unbiased opinion of a White Sox fan

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The 2019 roster does not look very different compared to the 2018 roster. The team won 95 games in 2018. Why would they make drastic changes going into 2019? The Cubs offense faltered late in the year, but that does not mean they will do the same again.

In fact, the team is faltering more offensively now and maybe that is a good thing. Hitting often comes in spurts for players. Even teams can go through ups and downs. The team struggled in August and September in 2018, which led to them amounting to nothing in the playoffs. Maybe struggling in July means they will find their groove when it matters.

The talk of the trade deadline has been that the team needs to find a leadoff hitter. In their defense, no one knew Ben Zobrist would go through the off-the-field drama he did this season. Leadoff hitter has been a problem though as the team is hitting .215 on the season from the top of the lineup. Going back to the 2016 season, the leadoff spot was hitting .267 for the Cubs.

The Cubs added Nick Castellanos in a trade with the Detroit Tigers with seconds left before the trade deadline expired. Castellanos is a nice addition for this team, but he is not going to help with the leadoff spot. Castellanos has only hit leadoff once in his career.

What is the answer then? Well, tough call, but in my opinion, the team needs to stick to one or maybe two guys to hit leadoff the rest of the year. Either let Kyle Schwarber hit leadoff and live with his .220 batting average or worse or maybe with the addition of Castellanos, Anthony Rizzo can hit leadoff (.320 with 11 HR in 169 at-bats hitting first).

Personally, I think Rizzo is too valuable deeper in the lineup. The last option would be Jason Heyward hitting first. He was put up in that spot of the order the last two games with limited success. He went 2-for-8 in that span. He is a career .259 hitter in the leadoff spot. Not great, but more reliable than Schwarber.

At this point, I think the Cubs need to pick Schwarber or Heyward and use only those two up top. As I already dove into, the numbers outside of the leadoff spot are not as bad as most fans think. When you look at a lineup card and see the names Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Javier Baez, you know the team has great talent. Now add in Wilson Contreras, Kyle Schwarber and now Castellanos and you have a formidable lineup that can compete in almost every game.

The one outlier here for the Cubs this season seems to be their home and away record. Is the team performing worse on the road? Slightly. At home this year, the team is hitting .254. On the road, they are hitting .245. The OBP split is .338 versus .321 and the team’s SLG percentage is .447 compared to .442. The numbers show a slight dip, but nothing too drastic.

It is quite possible that players on other teams are just stepping up their performances because the fans travel well for the Cubs and the player’s competitive nature wants to, for lack of a better term, shut them up. Pitchers are on their A-game and hitters are swinging just a little harder or a little faster. That’s what happens when you play against the better teams in the league.

From a pitching standpoint, the Cubs have one of the best lineups in the league. I already spoke about how well the team is pitching from the starters perspective. Now the hope is that Craig Kimbrell and the addition of Derek Holland will help sure up a very tired bullpen. Cubs fans cannot be too upset with what the team was able to do with little resources with free agency and the trade deadline.

Whether the Cubs make the playoffs and succeed, fall short or falter in the playoffs, where does Theo take the team next?