Help on the way for Cubs hitters? Not before another blown save vs. Giants
Speaking to reporters before Monday's game at Wrigley Field, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer uttered what's been on everyone's mind.
“We've all come to the ballpark many days thinking today's the day we're going to break out and get things rolling and it hasn't happened yet,” he said. “It needs to happen.”
There seemed to be no better night to get the bats cooking. Hot, humid summer evenings with the wind blowing toward the lake are typically when the ball flies out of Wrigley.
It took a while, but the Cubs finally sent the ball past the warning track. Michael Busch hit a 2-run homer in the sixth and Ian Happ added a 3-run shot in the seventh.
It wasn't enough, though. A 3-run homer by San Francisco's Thairo Estrada in the ninth inning against Hector Neris gave the Giants a 7-6 victory. It was the Cubs' 16th blown save of the season, second only to the White Sox in MLB.
On the bright side, this was the most runs scored by the Cubs since they tallied 7 on June 5 against the South Siders.
When it comes to the state of the Cubs and their miserable offensive results, Hoyer repeated the obvious. On June 17, there's no chance of landing Pete Alonso or Vladdy Guerrero at a reasonable price when the MLB trade deadline isn't until July 30.
“To be very clear, when I saw the solutions are within, that does not mean I'm not on the phone all the time looking at possibilities,” Hoyer said. “I wouldn't be doing my job if I wasn't doing that. I'm also realistic about what the trade market is and the opportunity.
“If something makes sense, we'll certainly look into it. I'm not trying to be stubborn and say we're not going to look outside this group. We absolutely will. I just think we have to be realistic upon June 17 that this is the group that is going to need to start hitting to get where we need to go. I think no one player is going to change that dynamic today.”
It's possible a roster move is coming. Mike Tauchman legged out an infield hit in the third inning and immediately signaled to the dugout for a trainer. The Palatine native left the game with what the team called left groin tightness.
If Tauchman goes on the injured list, the Cubs could call up Alexander Canario, who has been on a hot streak at Iowa. Fans might clamor for Owen Caissie to make his big-league debut, but Canario makes more sense. He's already on the 40-man roster and has posted a 1.056 OPS with 9 home runs during the past month.
Over the full season, the Cubs rank 28th in batting average with runners in scoring position at .212. Trailing 3-2 in the seventh, they collected a rare clutch hit when Seiya Suzuki belted a two-out RBI double to tie the score. Happ followed by sending a home run onto Waveland Avenue for a 6-3 lead. The Giants got within 6-4 in the eighth on a Patrick Bailey home run.
The Cubs stretched their MLB lead in getting thrown out on the bases to 31. Tauchman tagged up from first base on a deep fly ball, but was out at second. Then Wisdom tried to score on a short fly to right, but was out on a close play, which survived a Cubs' replay challenge.
While the offense has been dismal since the Cubs peaked with a 17-9 record on April 26, this past weekend was especially frustrating. The Cubs scored just 6 runs in three games against the Cardinals, even though the wind was blowing out much of the time. St. Louis also scored 6, but took two out of three in the series.
“Since our high-water mark, it's been 46 games,” Hoyer said. “In that time, we're at the bottom (in batting average). That doesn't work. We have to find a way to hit effectively. We're not going to be the team we want to be until we start clicking offensively. We have to keep having discussions with the hitting coaches and the hitters and try to solve this.”
Hoyer didn't have much of an update on injured pitcher Ben Brown, sidelined by a stress reaction in his neck. Hoyer said the team is collecting as many opinions as possible before moving forward with a treatment plan.
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