Ben Brown’s Outstanding Run, the Offense’s Opposite of That, and Other Cubs Bullets

Schooooooool’s. Out. For. SUMMER.

Daaaaaaaaaaad’s. In. His. OFFICE.

  • The Cubs’ bats are down bad, my friends. During this seven-game homestand (2-5), the Cubs did not lead for a single inning the entire time – the two wins both came on walk-offs. Again I say, the Cubs DID NOT LEAD IN ANY OF THE SEVEN GAMES during this homestand. And I tell you, it wasn’t because of the pitching.
  • In total, the Cubs scored just 16 runs over the 7 games, and hit a dreadful .149/.235/.228. The team’s 37 wRC+ was not only the lowest in baseball over that stretch, the second to last team was nearly DOUBLE the Cubs’ mark. This has been a very, very extreme week of bad offense. Heck, the fact that the Cubs won two games is probably a minor miracle.
  • Among the hitters who were healthy for that stretch, by faaaaaaar the best hitter was … Ian Happ. Surprising to you, perhaps? Well, he’s actually had an OK run since that two-day break in Atlanta: 208/.296/.458/114 wRC+. Not exactly the line you want to see, but definitely some progress and better contact quality.
  • Michael Busch and Miguel Amaya are tied for the second best wRC+ for the Cubs during that stretch at a whopping 76, so yeah, it’s been really bad.
  • Another great appearance from Ben Brown, holding the Braves down for 4.0 innings, allowing just one hit, two walks, and striking out six. He threw 66 pitches, and did so on short rest (in case you were wondering why he didn’t go much deeper).
  • Brown’s ERA since that silly, flukey debut in Texas? 1.91, the 5th lowest in baseball since March 31 among pitchers with at least 30 innings pitched. He’s behind only two of his teammates, Shota Imanaga and Javier Assad, and Ranger Suarez and Reynaldo Lopez. The Cubs are doing a delicate dance in deploying Brown to (1) get impactful innings out of him in this competitive season, (2) protect his arm for the long-term, (3) develop him as a possible starting pitcher for the long-term, and (4) hold open the possibility of a bullpen conversion. It’s really impressive to me – for both the team, the manager, and the player – how they are pulling it all off so well so far.
  • As an aside, it’s crazy looking at that list – FIVE of the twelve lowest ERAs belong to Cubs pitchers! Imanaga, Assad, Brown, Hayden Wesneski, and Jameson Taillon.
  • Craig Counsell on yesterday’s loss:
  • This truly might be the worst call I’ve seen in a decade – interference, which includes umpire discretion, should actually include some interference:
  • Bring the Expos back:
  • written by

    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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