Bleacher Bums Forum

Very interesting article by Sharma, who is terrific!  brjones, you and Chris have been lamenting the offense most all season and, since the break, if not before at times, you've been right (as Sharma points out). 

I thought Cubs would be moving up the HR ranks with a bullet by now, but Craig's lack of power concerns have been validated.

We all know that hitting is contagious and that losing a guy like Bryant from the offense has a ripple effect.  It's appeared to me in recent games that the Cubs are pressing and that only exacerbates the problem....but it's usually what happens...lack of hitting is contagious, too.

We need about 3 guys to get hot at once and guys like Contreras, Schwarber, Happ would really help, so we aren't overly reliant on Baez and Rizzo.  I suspect Russell's hand issue will put him on the bench for a while when Bryant returns.  He's contributing very, very little at the plate right now.  Bote would be a better option, but he finally appears to be slumping, too.

There's little doubt that Cubs better fix this issue sooner than later or the lack of offense may take us right out of the playoff picture (if our starting pitching doesn't).

It's a real testimonial to the grit and resilience of our guys (as well as Joe and the FO) for finding a way to stay on top while facing such a tremendous set of vexing issues this season!