The Cubs head into the All-Star break under .500 and are coming off a stretch of baseball that has been gruesome.
Considering the Cubs lost 14 straight only two years ago, that’s saying something.
But no fire sale appears to be on the horizon. Cubs President Andy MacPhail said Sunday the team shouldn’t be judged entirely by the dry spell that began June 9 in Arizona.
“You have to try to stay somewhat objective about it,” MacPhail said. “You have to realize that the talent around baseball is so spread out among the 30 clubs. There aren’t the dominant teams. There are teams with kids who’ve come through farm systems having years you don’t expect, like (Texas pitcher Jeff) Zimmerman, and there are teams with key injuries and someone having a down year. So you have to (be objective) with the team’s immediate fortunes.”
MacPhail had an animated conversation with pitching coach Marty DeMerritt before Sunday’s game, but it was just an update on recent developments, according to MacPhail. He believes the Cubs, who beat the White Sox for a second straight time Sunday night, can go off on a long winning stretch.
“A couple months ago everything was going wrong with the New York Mets,” MacPhail said. “They fired three coaches and there were rumors of them backing up the truck. Then they’ve played great for the past month. And if you told me when we saw San Diego in May that they would win 14 straight games, I’d have said no way.
“For about 60 games we were a good team and then in the next 25 or 30 games we undid all the good things we did in the first 60 games. It’s the nature of what you have today. If we get a couple of good performances from key players, we’re right back up where we were in those first 60 games. There’s been an ebb and flow this year to somewhat dramatic degrees.”
Pitching has been the Cubs’ biggest problem. They rank second from the bottom in National League earned-run average at 5.48.
“If you’re not getting innings out of your starters, then you risk overexposing your bullpen,” MacPhail said. “Before that stretch, our starters were the second best in the National League (in ERA). Look at Greg Maddux. There’s another guy who was struggling when we saw him (in mid-May). And over his last four starts, he’s been almost unhittable.”
The All-Star break couldn’t be coming at a better time for the Cubs, who will have three days to regroup from the last month. Manager Jim Riggleman agreed the Cubs need a break, but not for the reasons one would think.
“I think (a break is needed) only in terms of physically, that we’ve got some guys banged up,” he said. “After playing on the turf in Philly and Pittsburgh, three days off for guys like (Mickey) Morandini and Henry (Rodriguez) are good. A lot of guys could use a couple days off. But not for any other reason. The guys are the same (mentally). They get irritated when we lose games, which is what you want.”
If the Cubs are to rebound, they’ll at least have the advantage of playing at home for 47 of 77 games in the second half. They return with six straight home games against Minnesota and Kansas City, who have the two worst records in the American League, and will play 22 of their first 28 second-half games at home. But they have only a 17-17 record at Wrigley Field.
