Early Cubs Woes with Runners in Scoring Position? No Way! And Other Bullets

Apr 11, 2018

Tonight’s game is supposed to be warmer than yesterday’s day game, so that’s wild, man. But also, I am expecting sub-zero temps and raining frogs.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the Cubs are struggling with runners in scoring position. They did get a couple hits in those situations yesterday, but the team’s line with RISP is just .184/.319/.255, good for a 56 wRC+ (they are at 95 overall). Sure, some of that is a low BABIP in those situations – .269 after yesterday – but much more of it is the comically low power (.071 ISO is fourth worst in baseball) and the inflated strikeout rate (26.7% is 7th highest in baseball). Generally and simply speaking, the Cubs’ numbers with runners in scoring position are bad because they haven’t hit very well in those spots.

In non-RISP situations, each of those numbers for the Cubs are much better. Very middle-of-the-pack. So are these things that are going to stick? Are the Cubs, collectively, simply prone to strike out more and hit for less power when there are guys at second and third? As always, I tend to think the answer is no, but we’ve seen this precise issue before for years now with largely this same group of players. For now, it’s been 10 games, so whatever. There’s almost no signal in looking at this data beyond the fact that it sets up something to keep track of, since it’s been an issue in the past.

I didn’t realize that Javy Baez’s two homers yesterday marked his first two-homer game since he did it in his first week in the big leagues, unless you’re counting his bubble-gum-popping two-homer game in the NLCS – which, by the way, was the last time the Cubs played at Wrigley Field. So basically, Baez now homers twice in every game he plays at Wrigley Field. It is commanded.

The new dugouts at Wrigley are much further up the line, and much larger than before:

A look at the new Cubs dugout. LOT more space pic.twitter.com/JzhrNqDySb

— Cubs Talk (@NBCSCubs) April 10, 2018

There is now a camera well on each side of the dugout, too. Just so much more space than they had before, as with all things player-related at Wrigley in the era of the renovation. Well done by the Cubs.

Sister Jean (and some basketball team that no one even remembers (I’m kidding!)) threw out the first pitch yesterday after the Cubs Hall of Famers did so, and she actually had a nice toss, though she missed with her location:

The Home Opener at #Wrigley 98 year old Loyola Chicago Basketball Chaplain Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt throws out a ceremonial first pitch #everybodyin @Cubs @BleacherNation @RamblersMBB pic.twitter.com/am09BwdN2V
— MBDChicago (@MBDChicago) April 11, 2018

Sister Jean – if you leave one hanging over the plate, Kyle Schwarber will crush it over the scoreboard. pic.twitter.com/v4Qkq50h6v
— Cubs Live (@Cubs_Live) April 10, 2018

If you want to enjoy a Cubs win from yesterday, the crazy South Bend comeback was featured in Luke’s Minor League Daily today, complete with highlights.

NBC Sports Chicago is noting every Sammy Sosa home run from his magical 66-homer year 20 years ago, showing the dinger each day it happened:

#SummerOfSammy: HR #2 (of 66) came off Anthony Telford, top of the 7th, at Olympic Stadium! https://t.co/0kB3tRPfop pic.twitter.com/ohC4fRBiP5

— Cubs Talk (@NBCSCubs) April 11, 2018

The weather was not great and it was a day game between two rebuilding clubs, but this number is still, um, quite low:

Word is the actual attendance at Monday's #Rays–#WhiteSox game – people who used tickets to come in – was 974

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) April 10, 2018

You still have time to enter to win the signed Anthony Rizzo bat:

Want to Win a Signed Anthony Rizzo Marucci Bat? Of Course You Do – Sign Up Here https://t.co/yl81UvLtQY pic.twitter.com/LoHdDSD4LA
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) April 9, 2018

And DraftKings is hosting another BN-exclusive fantasy baseball contest tonight, so go here and draft your lineup.

The FireTV stick and more are on a big sale today at Amazon. And Prime members can get a Fire 7 tablet for just 35 bucks.

written by

Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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