Stroman struggles again and Cubs fall back to .500
Two of the Cubs' starting pitchers have shifted roles completely. While Jameson Taillon seems to have figured things out after a rough start, Marcus Stroman continues to struggle after an all-star first half of the season.
The Cubs lost their second in a row and dropped back to .500 with a 6-5 loss to Cincinnati on Monday at Wrigley Field. The Cubs fell behind 6-1 as Stroman lasted just 3 innings.
"Just not his best stuff tonight," manager David Ross said. "Everybody has some those nights, tonight was just not his best. It looked like he was just fighting his delivery a little bit. The stuff looked like it was moving OK. Balls moving middle, just some stuff in the zone. Again, not his best night."
Ross wasn't sure what to say. Catcher Yan Gomes chose his words carefully. Stroman left without speaking to reporters. The reality is, this is a problem for a team that's decided to battle for a playoff spot.
Over his last seven starts, beginning with the game in London, Stroman has an even 9.00 ERA - 30 earned runs in 30 innings pitched.
"I still feel like he's got elite pitches," Gomes said. "Every time he comes out there we're expecting to have a good game and just right now we've had a little bit of a hiccup, but we can definitely count on him to bounce back."
Stroman has had better success when Tucker Barnhart is his catcher - a 3.21 ERA with Barnhart compared to 4.68 with Gomes. But Gomes had 3 hits Monday and has been red-hot at the plate, so it's tough to keep him out of the lineup.
Taillon bounced back from his extended bad stretch. Drew Smyly had a rough few weeks and seemed to turn a corner in St. Louis. Maybe Stroman can do the same.
But there are other options. Javier Assad came on in relief and pitched 3⅔ scoreless innings. Since June 27, Assad has allowed 1 earned run in 22⅓ innings, good for a 0.40 ERA. And he was a starter until this season.
"Stro's been a big part of our success and why we're in the position we're in," Ross said of Stroman. "He's a big part of this group, a big part of our success moving forward as well. He's a hard worker, he'll be back on the drawing board really soon."
The Cubs did show some fight against the Reds' best pitcher, rookie left-hander Andrew Abbott. Swanson homered in the second inning, then Nico Hoerner and Cody Bellinger doubled in the third as the Cubs pulled within 6-4.
The Cubs were also quiet in the middle innings until back-to-back doubles by Gomes and Christopher Morel in the eighth made it 6-5. Reds closer Alexis Diaz retired the top of the Cubs order in order to end the game.
Inside the clubhouse, Ian Happ talked about the addition of third baseman Jeimer Candelario. Happ is one of the few on the team who remembers Candelario's early years with the Cubs in 2016-17.
"Yeah, it's awesome," Happ said. "He's had such a great year. We came up together, we played together in '17 in Triple A, both got called up around the same time and got to play half a year together in the big leagues. I'm excited to have him back and a part of this group. Right in the middle of our lineup would be great."
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