Before today’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, I had every intention of writing an article about finding the positives from a very disappointing first half of the season. I wanted to write about the emergence of Ian Happ, Jon Jay’s bat, and a bullpen that has been pretty damn good through the first 88 games of the season.
Then the game happened and all my positivity went directly out the window.
The Cubs got absolutely embarrassed by the Pirates today at Wrigley Field which was highlighted by Jon Lester’s historically bad performance.
Jon Lester is the 4th pitcher in the last 100 years to allow 10+ runs and not make it out of the first inning.
Pirates lead Cubs 10-0. pic.twitter.com/ChFRnVEWY7
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 9, 2017
The funny thing is that when I woke up today, my three-year-old daughter asked if I could take her to get a new dress so in my mind I thought, “Why not? Lester is pitching against a team that he usually dominates and the Cubs surely would win this game to go into the All-Star break on a positive note. I’m sure I won’t miss anything major.”
And of course, I was wrong.
I’m walking around the mall watching the Cubs score get updated on my phone: 1-0, 3-0, 5-0, 9-0, 10-0 which probably explained the look the store employee gave me every time I looked at my phone and mumbled, “What the fuck is going on?”
The reigning World Champs now sit at 43-45 at the All-Star break, which ties the most games they’ve been below .500 all season. Despite the team’s significant underachievement in the first half of the season, the Cubs front office will still maintain the notion that everything will be alright in the second half of the season.
Maybe the front office is trying some “musical therapy” to get through to the team after getting destroyed by Pittsburgh today by pumping some appropriate tunes into the clubhouse.
Bob Marley's "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" playing in #Cubs clubhouse following 14-3 loss to Pirates.
— Chris Kuc (@ChrisKuc) July 9, 2017
The song is actually called, “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley but the message of the song, as the tweet suggests, is that everything will be alright which ties in perfectly with both Joe Maddon and Theo Epstein’s season-long message.
While Cubs fans everywhere have been screaming for the front office to start wheeling and dealing to try to find the right piece to fit into the puzzle, Maddon and Epstein have stood firm with their message — the current Cubs are the solution to the problem.
While I’m not against making a trade, the entire puzzle right now is broken so what’s the purpose of giving up young talent to bring a player into a system that has to fix itself?
As much as I love Sonny Gray or Justin Verlander, I don’t think they’re the answer. The problem in the clubhouse is bigger than bringing in another pitcher to try and fix an atrocious rotation.
Will bringing in a new pitcher help the rest of your rotation stop giving up first inning runs?
Will bringing in a new pitcher help the rest of the rotation not suck? I mean, when Eddie Butler leads your rotation in ERA for the first half, that’s a bit alarming.
Will bringing in a new pitcher help your offense get a hit with a runner in scoring position?
No, it won’t.
It’s funny how quickly fans forget last season and how much praise was being thrown at everyone and rightly so — the team was winning. I’ve been around sports my entire life as a player, coach, and now a writer, and no matter what role I’ve played, the same message holds true — everything is better when you win.
I understand Cubs fans frustration because I’m right there with them. However, I try to always find a silver lining to every bad situation. For the fans who are ready to throw 2017 down the drain, keep this in mind.
Tease. pic.twitter.com/KvDSJwz3rM
— Cubs Win (@WhiteFlagTime) July 9, 2017
So let’s do our best to enjoy the next four days without Cubs baseball and let the team (and ourselves) mentally regroup. Be thankful the Cubs are only 5.5 games out of the dumpster fire NL Central and they aren’t in the NL West (where they’d be 17 games out of first).
I don’t know what rock bottom feels like but today had to be pretty close. Even though today was a piss poor game and the entire first half was trash, remember — there’s still an entire second half of baseball to be played.
