Rock Bottom

Greg Maddux takes his fifth loss in May

to finish 0-5 with an ERA of 7.81.

How can you say that the Cubs aren't the worst team in the National League right now? We are a staggering 5-18 in the month of May. We've won one series all month (2-1 against the Nationals May 16-18), had an 8-game losing streak, a four-game losing streak, a three-game losing streak, and are currently working on another one (after today's loss, it stands at three games).

How bad, exactly, are the Cubs? Let's check the numbers:

HITTING
-Worst in the NL in hits, third worst in all of baseball
-Worst in the NL in runs, second worst in all of baseball
-Worst in the NL in batting average, second worst in all of baseball
-Worst in the NL in RBI, second worst in all of baseball
-Worst in the NL in walks, third worst in all of baseball
-Worst in the NL in home runs, second worst in all of baseball
-Worst in all of baseball in on-base percentage, arguably the most important offensive stat
-Worst in all of baseball in slugging percentage
-Worst in all of baseball in OPS
-Worst in all of baseball in doubles

PITCHING
-Third worst ERA in the NL, 24th of 30 in all of baseball
-Fourth fewest saves in all of baseball (3 behind last place)
-Fourth most home runs given up in all of baseball (5 behind leader)
-Most walks given up in all of baseball

You can check sortable stats by team here.

Our defense is fairly average (in the middle of the pack in fielding percentage, errors, double plays, etc) and our baserunning is pretty spotty but not really to blame for our slide.

And of course, the most important stats of all: The Cubs are 18-28, 10 games below .500, 12.5 games out of the division lead, and own the third-worst record in the NL, ahead of Washington and Pittsburgh. After starting the year 12-7. Fantastic.


Here's what the Cubs need to do (and I'm not watching their games any more until I see some improvement):

1) STOP. WALKING. BATTERS. We walked 9 today.
2) Start hitting the ball. Be patient and stop trying to turn the month around with one swing.
3) Get the top of the order going. Juan Pierre and Ronny Cedeno are hitting miserably right now. Let's get our hottest hitters early in the lineup. How about Jacque Jones in the 2 hole?
4) Starters need to keep pitch counts down. It's hard to stay in games when your exhausted bullpen is pitching by the fourth inning.
5) Stay out of the big inning. Today the Marlins scored 5 runs in one inning, all with two outs. Inexcusable.
6) Wake up. Everything I see and hear out of this team tells me they are in a baseball coma. Get there early, eat a big lunch, perform a seance, get a new bat, whatever it takes. Start over. Get rid of your superstitions. Start acting like you're being paid MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO WIN GAMES. Let's try to get something going before DLee, Prior, and Miller are ready to go.

I love this team, but I'm almost through with them.


UPDATE: The Cubs are also last in the NL in batting average with runners in scoring position, a critical stat when you are struggling offensively. Individually, Juan Pierre is second to last with a .111 average (3-27).