It took a little while, but the Chicago Cubs are over .500 following a series sweep of the Athletics on Wednesday. The Cubs started the regular season 0-2 when they were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Tokyo Dome on March 18-19.
Chicago split their domestic series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cubs had a chance to win the series, but bullpen issues cost them Sunday night’s game after they gave up eight runs to the Diamondbacks in the eighth inning.
The Chicago Cubs were disrespected by ESPN
Chicago came out furious against the A’s, winning Monday night’s game 18-3, Tuesday night’s game 7-4, and completing the sweep 10-2. The Cubs will face a serious test in their home opener this weekend when they take on the 7-0 San Diego Padres on Friday.
In thier MLB power rankings published Thursday, ESPN gave the Cubs a ridiculous ranking. They put Chicago at 14, two spots higher than their last ranking.
However, they placed the Cubs three sports below the 0-7 Atlanta Braves (11). Chicago is behind two other sub-.500 teams, the No. 13 Boston Red Sox (2-4) and No. 10 Houston Astros (2-4).
Justin Steele needs to pitch better
Alden Gonzalez of ESPN critiqued starting pitcher Justin Steele’s early performance this season in the power rankings, claiming he’s lukewarm.
“Justin Steele has acted as a steadying presence in the Cubs’ rotation over the past three years, winning 25 games, posting a 3.10 ERA and accumulating 427 innings,” Gonzelez. “But the early part of this season has been a struggle. Through three starts, Steele leads the majors in hits (18), earned runs (12) and homers allowed (five).
“But that’s not entirely fair. He began his season before almost everyone else, on March 18 in Japan. None of his three starts — against the Dodgers, D-backs and A’s — have been terrible. It’s just that none of them have been all that good, either.”
The Cubs have a chance to climb up the power ranking if they can win games in a tough month. Following their series against the Padres this weekend, Chicago has series against the Texas Rangers, Dodgers, Padres again, Diamondbacks, Dodgers again, Philadelphia Philles, and Pittsburgh Pirates in April.
The Padres, Rangers, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Phillies have a combined record of 28-5.
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Chicago Cubs tough schedule will test if they’re a playoff caliber team
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