Chicago Cubs: Boos rain over Wrigley as Cubs vibe changes

The Chicago Cubs’ vibe has changed.

You could hear it in the boos at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night when trade deadline acquisition Andrew Kittredge was pulled from the game in the seventh inning after giving up 4 earned runs in a third of an inning in relief of a brilliant Shota Imanaga.

That kind of booing is not generally in the nature of Cubs fans. But the vibe has changed a lot over the last several days and the loyal fandom has apparently lost some of its good-natured faith, hope, and charity when it comes to their team.

As of this writing, the Cubs are four games behind the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central Division. Where they once enjoyed a 6.5 game lead, they are now deeply buried in second place. Just a few weeks ago, there was World Series chatter, but now, more and more, the focus is on the Wild Card race and just making the playoffs.

Much has contributed to this change of vibe.

The downward-bound Chicago Cubs

On the field, the once powerful and versatile offense has sputtered. The team is averaging just 2.4 runs per game in August, all at home. The Wrigley wind blowing in can’t really be used as an excuse, like it has in the past, since all of the Cubs’ big hitters are just flat-out not even hitting the ball. Kyle Tucker has especially looked bad, suddenly incapable of hitting a major league fastball. On Tuesday, he struck out three times.

To add perspective, the downward trend of the once-elite Cubs offense dates back before the start of August and the All-Star break, all the way back to June, when numbers started dipping.

The lack of offensive output just puts added pressure on an already-strained Cubs pitching staff, which alternates between failed starts and bullpen collapses– sometimes languishing with both.

Needless to say, this has been a prodigious fall from grace.

Dashed hopes

But there was hope that the Cubs could right their ship and continue on their sail towards a deep playoff run. The July 31 trade deadline offered them the chance to patch up all the holes in their hull in one fell swoop.

The rumors were certainly rampant and the buzz was everywhere. The Cubs front office was going into the deadline as aggressive buyers in an effort to push this team towards a championship. They were “all-in.”

When the dust settled, though, they failed to address any of their most pressing needs. They didn’t acquire a front-of-rotation starter. They didn’t pick up a high-leverage back-of-bullpen reliever. They whiffed on the elite power bat of Eugenio Suarez, who would’ve turbo-charged the stagnant offense.

Instead, they ended up playing things Cubs-typical conservative, acquiring swing man Michael Soroka, relievers Taylor Rogers and Andrew Kittredge, and infielder/outfielder Willi Castro.

These weren’t “bad” additions, in and of themselves (although the gamble on the oft-injured Soroka, who went on the IL after just two innings pitched for the Cubs, was a big, fat fail, as Cubs president Jed Hoyer has since admitted). The problem is that none of these guys addressed the team’s failings, other than Castro, who will help out as a high-end jack of all trades.

Frustration spills over

Much of the frustration heard at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night comes directly from the bitter taste left in the mouths of fans after July 31.

Hoyer has talked up the high price of available team controlled starters as the main deterrent to making a deadline trade. That’s a fair point. None of those pitchers were moved at the deadline. But there were rentals available– rentals who would end up going for a reasonable price in trade capital, like Merrill Kelly and Charlie Morton. There was talent available, beyond a downward-bound Soroka and a pair of mid-level middle relievers.

For whatever reason, Hoyer and the Cubs simply didn’t pull the trigger on what would’ve been needed to actually make this team a World Series contender.

The fans see that, the analysts see that, and it would be a fair assumption to say that the players, themselves, see that.

The team’s inactivity at the deadline was tantamount to a concession that, maybe, this year is not THE year after all.

And, with that kind of indirect surrender on open display, what kind of positivity is possible?

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