NEWSLETTER
When I left for Greece/my honeymoon back on June 21st, the Cubs had just wrapped up back-to-back Ws against the Dodgers at Wrigley Field, winning yet another series here in 2018 while moving to a season-high 13-games over .500. And then the winning stopped.
For the first five days of my trip, the Cubs failed to win a single game, dropping four-straight to the freakin’ Reds before splitting two games in Los Angeles (sorry to make you relive it all). But whaddaya know! As soon as I came home, the winning started again, and, now, the Cubs are riding a four-game winning streak as they get their much-needed off-day in today. With just one more win, they can tie their season-high for consecutive wins (5), achieved just twice this year (once at the end of April and again in mid-May).
Bonus fun fact: since the hitters meeting called by hitting coach Chili Davis, the Cubs have won five of six, and the bats have gone off.
All together, including their current four-game winning streak, the Cubs have had just six winning streaks of three games or longer this season, including the two five-game streaks earlier in the year, three more four-game streaks, and one more three-game streak. For a team as, well, streaky as this one can feel, that’s not a ton of streakiness.
But as far as the intensity of this current streak, we’re at maximum power. Or at least the offense is. Over the last four games, the Cubs have scored 10 runs or more in each, averaging 11.5 runs/game. And that’s a good thing, because as it turns out, they’ve allowed a ton of runs during that stretch, too.
In fact, it’s some of the most runs they’ve ever allowed during a winning streak:
25 runs is the most we've allowed in a three-game winning streak since 1923.
W. W. W.
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 1, 2018
But, again, this series was a fruitful one from a statistical perspective:
The Cubs this series:
– Scored 35 runs, the most by any team in a three-game series this season.
– Batted .418 (46-for-110).
– Had a .493 OBP.
#EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/ZkZb6AlaAF— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 1, 2018
And even two of the “weakest” aspects of the team (apparent lack of a dedicated leadoff hitter (not an actual issue) and a more real issue with batting average/general production when there are runners in scoring position) have completely flipped:
Cubs batting average w/ RISP has jumped from .232 to .258 over last week. Insane! Another change, one that everyone was complaining about early, but nobody seems to be talking about now, is that the Cubs have a .359 OBP from the leadoff spot, fourth in baseball.
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) July 1, 2018
With runners in scoring position before the month of June, the Cubs had a .231 batting average (26th in MLB), a .340 slugging percentage (29th), and a .682 OPS (25th) Now? Take a look:
Batting Average: .256 (11th)
Slugging Percentage: .389 (18th)
OPS: .745 (15th)
Those are some enormous leaps and this latest explosion has contributed a lot.
#Cubs last 4 games:
11.5 Runs per game
.407/.469/.667
28 for 59 (.475) with RISP— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) July 2, 2018
But perhaps the most important part of this little stretch is the timing. Not only did the Cubs rattle off four straight wins, they did it after an extremely tough and lengthy stretch, featuring plenty of losses on the field and on the roster, and also just before a well-earned off-day. It’s just plain impressive and it’s been extremely fun to watch.
And for someone like me, who conveniently missed the pain of losing while abroad, it just feels like the good times kept on rolling.
