Once again, the Chicago Cubs were on the verge of getting something going, but they lost 1-0 to the underachieving Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday at Wrigley Field, dropping Craig Counsell’s club to 61-64 on the year, 11 1/2 games back of the division and 5 1/2 games out of the wild-card standings.
For several weeks, the Cubs have been toying with the idea of getting back above the .500 mark, but they keep falling short of their goal. Chicago hasn’t even reached or broken even since June 5, the second of two consecutive walk-off wins against the White Sox. That alone shows how disappointing the 2024 season has been, especially given the expectations that came with hiring Counsell last fall.
I could cite countless numbers to show how far this group has fallen short of expectations, but for the sake of time we’ll limit ourselves to just two – the first being the team’s record for games won by one point.
Although they had two one-point wins over the Blue Jays before Sunday’s loss, the Cubs’ record in such games is a modest 19-26. Counsell’s success with the Brewers in one-point games was a big talking point last fall after Chicago poached him, but now we’re wondering if that success was a byproduct of the manager or the strong late-inning weapons he always had at his disposal in Josh Hader and Devin Williams.
Given the way the Cubs front office operates, there are no such late-inning weapons in the Wrigley bullpen for Counsell to call upon, and as a result, the record has suffered in one-point games. If the team won even a handful more of those games, it would be at or above .500 and at least within striking distance of the postseason race.
But it’s not just those one-score losses that have broken the Cubs’ neck. The persistent problem all season has been the inability to hit with runners in scoring position. Chicago ranks dead last among National League teams with a .222 average in those positions. Time and time again, the big hit has eluded this group, and one could argue that this has been their biggest undoing.
The next two weeks present a perfect opportunity to flip the script, with matchups against very beatable teams. But if Counsell and the Cubs can’t overcome those two weaknesses quickly, they’ll have to start over again in the offseason in hopes of making this team contend in 2025.
