There’s a Chance the Cubs Are Awesome and Other Bullets

May 01, 2018

It’s just science: The Littlest Girl started in a new school, and thus I have been sick since two days after she started. I will tell you this, though. Ever since I started regularly irrigating my nasal cavities (you love this sentence already), I not only get sick so much less often than I used to, but the duration and impact of the times I am sick are reduced dramatically. And the stuff you get to see coming out of your face, man. It’s a mucus party in there!

It’s wild that the Cubs have won five straight, and yet haven’t scored more than three runs in any of those games. The pitching, obviously, has been absurd. The team’s previously middling ERA is now 3.33, which is 4th best in baseball, and 16% better than league average. Even the starting pitchers, whose numbers were brutal just a week ago, are now 3% better than league average.

Thanks primarily to that pitching, the Cubs finished April right where they belong:

Damn straight. pic.twitter.com/2QWYz4x7HY

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) May 1, 2018

Forgetting for a moment how the Cubs got there, that’s pretty much exactly how you’d have hoped April would look, right? That’s a 100-win pace, and, even in a month that may have featured a lighter schedule, you’d be very happy to see the Cubs playing at a 100-win pace.

… and here’s the thing: I’m not actually sure the schedule was as easy as it looked on paper coming into the season. Consider that the Cubs have now played just five games against teams with a losing record, the first five games of the season (Marlins for four, Reds for one). Their average opponent winning percentage so far? Second highest in baseball, at .540. I’m pretty sure the Cubs have actually been extremely awesome, my frents.

That two-run Rockies fifth inning could have been much worse if not for Willson Contreras:

Don't sleep on @WContreras40! pic.twitter.com/BJUfiESkzG

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 1, 2018

You are silly if you’re getting that aggressive at second base when you know – you *KNOW* – Contreras has a great arm and likes to take his shots.

Something to keep an eye on: it seems like it’s been a very long time since Javy Baez walked. He was getting a whole lot of free passes at the bottom of the order, but since moving up ahead of the 7/8-spot, he has yet to take a walk. To be sure, you don’t *have* to walk if you’re raking, but eventually, when you’re doing the kind of damage Baez has been doing, pitchers will get cuter and cuter, and you’ve got to start accepting your walks. I think Baez might be in a bit of a transition zone right now.

A great shot of Albert Almora’s latest fantastic catch:

Sorry, couldn’t think of another catch-y caption. @albertalmora is constantly robbing the Rockies. #EverybodyIn @cubs @BleacherNation @realcubsinsider @Cubs_Live pic.twitter.com/dlc6oS6NgI
— MBDChicago (@MBDChicago) May 1, 2018

The Cubs’ offense has slumped a bit lately (thanks, pitching!), but they have been making a concerted effort to work in the cages:

Everybody was so sick of rain/snow outs by the time April 18 came along. But the Cubs made sure to get the most out of their "free" day off.https://t.co/yiEl1QTwm7
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) April 30, 2018

Adbert Alzolay took ANOTHER no-hitter into the 6th inning.

Where things stand for the Bears after the draft:

Our First Post-Draft Bears Depth Chart Reveals At Least Eight New Starters https://t.co/eCLBvot7Gs pic.twitter.com/if2lhFM3lM

— The Ten-Yard Line (@TheTenYardLine) May 1, 2018

Who wouldn’t want to get a ONE POUND Snickers bar for 24% off?

And 20% off all orders today at the MLB Shop:

Heads up! 20% off all orders at the MLB Shop today (through midnight), so get on it (code is BAT20): https://t.co/FYFNbUBY6r pic.twitter.com/72FHEc9fQL
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) May 1, 2018

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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