CHICAGO \u2014 Craig Counsell is known for his steady hand and staying the course in rocky waters, but even he seems to have seen enough of a Chicago Cubs offense that\u2019s struggling to come through in the biggest moments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we gotta do something different,\u201d Counsell said after a 4-2 loss to the Houston Astros on Friday, the team\u2019s sixth straight defeat. \u201cThere\u2019s some at-bats where confidence is starting to feel like it\u2019s shaken. Sometimes that\u2019s just a different look in the lineup or a day off or whatever. I think we\u2019re at that point, absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s third inning was emblematic of everything that\u2019s going wrong for this team of late. Trailing 1-0, a leadoff walk followed by a pair of hit-by-pitches handed the Cubs a prime scoring opportunity.<\/p>\n
The Cubs have been in a funk, especially in these moments, and their two biggest culprits, Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki, were due up. Following the script, Happ struck out, and Suzuki popped out. A groundout by Michael Conforto ended the threat.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot getting runs across in that inning, that\u2019s frustrating,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how else to say it. It\u2019s an opportunity with the middle of your lineup up. Not being able to get it done is just frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talking about frustration and suggesting a change is a rarity for Counsell. He wasn\u2019t overly animated, but it\u2019s clear he needs to see his team play better baseball and that different names may be called upon to do it. The offense is floundering and shaking things up, even briefly, can\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a small sample, but the Cubs are in a 2-10 stretch where they just can\u2019t come through in clutch moments. During those 12 games, the team as a whole is 13-for-99 with runners in scoring position.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to come through, you want to help the team,\u201d Happ said. \u201cBe the guy that breaks the seal and gets us going. The challenge is not to put more pressure on yourself and just have your at-bat, but it\u2019s never that easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Counsell wondered if that pressure is being felt by his offense.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pressure\u2019s on the pitcher in those at-bats,\u201d he said. \u201cThe pitcher\u2019s in a tough situation. It feels a little backwards right now in terms of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
So what do they do? Simply put, they have to get that big hit. Counsell will likely trot out a tweaked lineup in the coming days. Perhaps Happ or Suzuki gets moved down in the lineup or sits out a game. Maybe the recently called-up Pedro Ram\u00edrez gets a shot. Mois\u00e9s Ballesteros may get a chance to get out of his funk.<\/p>\n
Happ and Suzuki have strong numbers, but their inability to deliver with runners on has become glaring. The trio of Happ, Suzuki and Dansby Swanson went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position Friday. On the season, they\u2019re 22-for-149 in those moments, a .148 batting average. Happ, in particular, seems to be searching for it. After becoming more contact-oriented over the years, his strikeout rate has skyrocketed this season, sitting at 33.2 percent after two more on Friday, the fourth-highest rate in baseball.<\/p>\n
On the day, the Cubs were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to just say it\u2019ll be OK, and (it\u2019s) another to be realistic and go out there with the intent and make the right changes,\u201d Swanson said. \u201cWe\u2019re giving ourselves chances, but we just haven\u2019t been able to come through with consistent hits with guys on base. This offense is obviously really good when everybody\u2019s passing the baton to one another. We just haven\u2019t been able to do that recently.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cubs are second in plate appearances with runners in scoring position. If they can keep that up, they don\u2019t have to be the best in baseball in coming through in those moments. What they have to avoid is being completely abysmal.<\/p>\n
Right now, they\u2019re in the thick of it. Their six-game losing streak is their longest since 2022; this comes after they managed a pair of 10-game winning streaks. A season\u2019s worth of streaks has occurred just 51 games into the season. With four months to go, it\u2019s difficult to know what to expect from a group that\u2019s really making sure everyone experiences the full rollercoaster that comes with 162 games of baseball.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough,\u201d Happ said. \u201cTough stretch of baseball. But we have a really good group, a really experienced group. We\u2019ll come out the other side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014 Craig Counsell is known for his steady hand and staying the course in rocky waters, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[479,363,99],"class_list":["post-659477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}