Despite injuries, Cubs still favorites to win National League
Coming into the 2018 season, the Chicago Cubs had the most complete roster they may have ever bolstered. While they had lost notable pitching in starter Jake Arrieta and closer Wade Davis, the Cubs front office and Theo Epstein went out and signed a closer, Brandon Morrow and a starter, Yu Darvish.
The season started with a bang; in the first MLB game of the year the Cubs faced off against the Marlins in Miami.
Ian Happ took the first pitch of the season to deep right field for a towering home run. After the first couple weeks, the Cubs found themselves in fourth place in the division.
Battling injuries with star players such as Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Darvish the Cubs bounced back and took the division lead by the All-Star break and haven’t lost it since.
Currently the Cubs sit 4.0 games ahead of their rival the St. Louis Cardinals, and 4.5 games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers with just over a month to play.
Just last week, star pitcher Darvish was announced to be out for the year with the tricep and elbow issues that have sidelined him since May.
Do the Cubs have it in them to make another great post season run? Are they still favorites to win the National League with Darvish, Morrow and Bryant out?
The answer is yes. The Cubs have made it clear they are going for another World Series this year by making many trade deadline deals.
They replaced Darvish’s spot in the rotation by acquiring Cole Hamels, former World Series MVP, from the Rangers. Having a rough start to the year with an earned run average (ERA) over 5.00, the Cubs did not know what they would get out of Hamels. Since joining the Cubs, Hamels is 5-0 with a 0.72 ERA.
The Cubs also acquired Bullpen personnel such as Brandon Kintzler from the Nationals and Jesse Chavez from the Rangers. The Cubs have scraped together one of the best pitching staffs in baseball without their best starter and closer.
Lately, the problem for the Cubs has been on the offensive side, they hadn’t been hitting well. With their star offensive player and former MVP Bryant out, the Cubs had to step up, and they have.
David Bote, a player from the Cubs minor league team in Iowa has been called up in place of Bryant. Bote has been in red-hot form, batting almost .300 with the fastest exit velocity in the league. He is also clutch. He has hit two walk-off homers in the last two weeks, one of which was a grand slam to win the game 4-3 after being down 3-0.
Another notable edition is Daniel Murphy, who was acquired from the Nationals a week ago. Murphy has really revitalized a Cubs offense. The man who single handedly defeated the Cubs in the 2015 NLDS is now wearing the blue pinstripes for the North Siders. Murphy is a career .400+ hitter at Wrigley Field and has a .320+ average in the playoffs.
The injury ridden Chicago Cubs have bounced back and still lead the National League. Now it’s time for some Cubs magic as they approach the postseason hoping to make a deep run in the playoffs and bring the second World Series title in three years back to the north side of Chicago.
Jack Redick, a contributing writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at JRedick21@wooster.edu.