By Craig Lynch –
The Chicago Cubs won 95 games this season. It marks the fourth straight season of 90 or more victories. What should have been a celebration seemed a bit empty when the Cubs lost a National League Central tiebreaker to Milwaukee, 3-1, Monday, Oct. 1 and lost to Colorado, 2-1, in 13 inning the next night in the wild-card playoffs.
The Cubs took over first place before the all-star break. They expanded their advantage to five games September 2. They were 16-12 in September only to see the Milwaukee Brewers catch them and beat team in the Central Division tie-breaker. The Cubs’ inability to score runs at home was puzzling, much of the season, but playing 42 games in 43 days didn’t help. It looked as if a 2½ game lead with seven games left would be enough to finish in first place. But the Brewers continued to win.
All teams have injuries. Chris Bryant, the 2016 National League Most Valuable Player Award winner, hurt his shoulder in May and never was the same. Willson Contreras’ lack of power was a mystery. They were missing their two best closing pitchers and yet they still won a lot of games.
In president Theo Epstein’s press conference Wednesday last week, he said the team was “talented, but fell short.” He cited the lack of a killer instinct. At the beginning of the season the Cubs starting rotation was a mess. It became the team’s strength in September.
We will see if the Cubs will look for a big ticket free agent, or choose to stay with Ian Happ, Kyle Schwarber, and Albert Almora. If they can repeat a 95-victory season next year, indications would be another playoff run and perhaps a longer stay in the postseason.