Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like a lot of the blame during this Cubs meltdown during the last six weeks or so has been put on the bullpen. Well, don’t worry guys, we’ll light up the trash offense right now, too.

We knew that the Cubs weren’t going to keep up their April offense because heading into the 2023 season the expectation was simply for this group to be around or maybe slightly better than league average. After getting swept and being held to seven runs in three games against the Los Angeles Angels, the Cubs are pretty much average, tied with a few teams with a collective 99 wRC+. However, since April 28, when the Cubs started the day with a 14-10 record and began a road trip against the Miami Marlins, they have one of the worst offenses in MLB.

Yes, the starting pitching hasn’t been consistent, the bullpen has been awful, but despite that, this team shouldn’t be this bad, but they are because for the past month and a half, the offense has been dead.

Bottom 3 Offense

Cubs offensive rankings since April 28, their last 38 games.

.225 BA: 28th
.312 OBP: 18th
.361 SLG: 28th
.672 OPS: 26th
86 wRC+: 28th
27.2 K%: 2nd
37 HR: 21st
129 R: 30th
88.3mph Exit Velocity: 25th
20.4 Soft Contact%: 1st
31.6 Hard Contact%: 24th
10.6 BB%: 2nd

Literally the only good thing the offense has done since the end of April is draw walks, ranking second in the league during that time period. But when the Cubs actually need to come through and score runs, they’ve failed. Third-worst batting average, third-worst slugging, second-highest strikeout percentage and even when they do hit the ball the Cubs lead MLB in soft-contact percentage.

In their last 38 games the Cubs offense is averaging 3.4 runs per game, dead last in MLB. They have a 12-26 record since that series opener on April 28 against the Marlins.

This one really is pathetic. Patrick Wisdom has been the worst hitter on the Cubs by a wide margin and the second worst hitter in MLB among players with at least 60 plate appearances since May 14. Since then, Wisdom is 6-for-61 at the plate. SIX HITS!

OK and despite Wisdom being an automatic out for the past 3 weeks, he still leads the Cubs in home runs with 14. The player with the second-most home runs is Christopher Morel, who didn’t play until May 9. Wisdom is still the only Cubs player with 10+ home runs. It’s June 9.

Ian Happ has not homered since May 5. Pretty much every single starter on this team besides Dansby Swanson is to blame for this pathetic offense. In the past three weeks, the Cubs have THE worst offense in baseball.

Cubs Last 18 Games
63 wRC+: 30th
2.7 R/G: 30th
.577 OPS: 30th
.186 BA: 30th
.280 OBP: 29th
.297 SLG: 30th

A terrible job of the front office to bring in actual difference-makers, while the players themselves who did have a solid track record have fallen off a cliff. Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner were hot in April and have been shit since. Blame all these guys. They deserve every bit of the blame as the pitchers have been getting.