We’re not having a full-on Off-Day Check-In today, since the Cubs just had an off-day three days ago, because the schedule totally makes sense.
But I was curiously perusing some team power stat stuff that I found interesting. Not in any kind predictive or even analytical way, but it made the side of my mouth curl up in a half-hearted “hmmph”-type thing.
The Cubs have had decent power production overall this year, despite how it may have felt. Their .427 slugging percentage is 5th highest in baseball (second highest in the NL), and their .171 ISO is 6th highest in baseball (first in the NL).
The Cubs’ total volume of extra-base hits, 157, is 8th highest in baseball (second in the NL), despite having played fewer games than all but the Twins and Mets.
What’s been a bit odd, though, is how few home runs – the best kind of extra-base hit, dontchaknow – the Cubs have hit this year. Their 52 homers are more than just 11 teams.
Their 17 triples leads baseball, and their 88 doubles are 12th (4th in the NL). It’s not as though the Cubs aren’t hitting the ball in such a way as to create extra-base hits at all.
There’s no doubt some early-season weather impact there, but it also sure feels like the Cubs have had a tooooooon of balls die at the track this year (or get caught beautifully up against the wall like Addison Russell last night). Maybe that’s just what my mind tells me because those stick out, or maybe the Cubs have been a little unlucky to not have a few more of those balls go just a few feet further.
Like I said, I’m not gonna land on anything too concrete on this, because there are some wonky variables. But it’s just kinda odd to see a team doing so well on the power side of things, but also not really hitting homers.
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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