Chicago Cubs’ feeble run has forced a change in trade deadline targets

The Chicago Cubs are just bad right now. And the “badness” hits harder because of just how good they were not that long ago, when they reeled off two ten-game winning streaks, almost back-to-back, despite battling through a wave of pitching injuries.

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That plucky, defiant team is not the same one that meekly limped off the field Saturday afternoon after losing 3-0 to the Houston Astros in what was their seventh loss in a row and their eleventh loss in their last thirteen games.

In their last two outings against the Astros—the team with the highest ERA in MLB—they’ve managed just two runs and seven total hits. This stat highlights just how awful the Cubs’ offense has been and how much more they’re responsible for the team’s decline than the oft-lamented state of the pitching staff.

Cubs must now, also, focus on hitting at the trade deadline

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And that complicates matters significantly when it comes to trade deadline targets—if, of course, they’re still even in the race for postseason play by August 3. But assuming they’re buyers and not sellers at the deadline, the obvious offensive needs of the team make a dependable impact bat a “must have.”

That reality flies in the face of the “pitching first” focus Chicago was predicted to have when it comes to trades.

There’s no point to even pointing the finger at any single Cub when it comes to offensive doldrums. They’re all struggling and underachieving. So, it would be hard to find just one guy to replace in the lineup, although the DH spot might be a nice place to start.

Getting a bat, however, would take up some of the trade capital reserved for picking up a very much-needed high-end starting pitcher to take a stab at putting together a playoff-worthy starting rotation. Frankly, the Cubs just don’t have the kind of prospect reserves needed to swing two high-profile trades like that.

Counsell’s ‘all will be well’ message

Manager Craig Counsell was as frustratingly even-tempered as usual on Saturday when talking about his team’s struggles.

“We’ve struggled as a team for two weeks here,” Counsell told reporters. “While frustrating, it’s still two weeks, you know? We’re going to come out of this. It’s going to be fine. We’re a good baseball team. It’s all going to happen, but while you go through it, you got to sit in some discomfort.”

“This is the great thing and the crushing thing about our game,” Counsell added. “All the guys know that they’re going to go through this, right? But when you’re going through it, it just hurts, right? And you don’t understand how you got there. You don’t understand how you’re going to get out of it. It feels worse than it is.”

That all sounds pragmatic enough, but it reads a little like an “all is fine, get back to your rooms” from the captain of the Titanic as it began taking water.

The truth is that this team, in pretty much this same configuration, always goes through these deep, dark funks. Last season, this team character quirk pretty much cost them their postseason run.

Additions have to be made and a re-cooking of the team chemistry has to be done. Unfortunately, the Cubs may not have the prospect resources necessary to make such moves.

The post Chicago Cubs’ feeble run has forced a change in trade deadline targets appeared first on ChiCitySports.

Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-losing-streak-trade-deadline-craig-counsell/