3 Cubs Disappointments From The First Half
High-priced veterans and struggling relievers were major disappointments in the first half. Discover which underperforming stars face a critical crossroads as the North Siders fight for a postseason spark.
Video Transcript
What is up, Cubs fans?
And welcome back to Cubs Roundtable.
I'm Joey Polizzi, talking about all things Cubs.
And the Cubs will officially kick off the second half of the season on Friday night against the Minnesota Twins.
But before the second half of the season officially begins, now's a good time to look at the first half and some of the biggest disappointments for this Cubs team.
There are three players in particular that really disappointed here in the first half, and we'll dive into those players and determine whether there's some optimism moving forward.
The first is Alex Bregman.
When the Cubs signed Alex Bregman to a five-year, $175 million in free agency, the expectation was he was gonna be a reliable bat at the top of the lineup.
Unfortunately, in the first half, Bregman was not that type of hitter at the plate, batting under 245, under double digit home runs, and most importantly, not hitting with runners in scoring position, as he had a 200 batting average in the first half with runners in scoring position.
But there is plenty of optimism surrounding Bregman going into the second half because, A, Bregman hit back-to-back home runs in the final two games before the All-Star break, and Bregman is notoriously a better second half hitter.
He has a better slash line, a much better slash line for a matter of fact, in the second half compared to the first.
So Bregman should be a better hitter for this Cubs team in the second half.
The second player that was a major disappointment was Nico Hoerner.
I don't think anyone expected Nico Hoerner to perform as poorly at the plate that he did in the first half.
Batted only 233 in the first half, and his numbers over the past 63 games since being hit in the head by that pitch back on April 29th was 202 batting average over his last 63 games.
So obviously not a great first half from Hoerner, but there is some optimism, like Bregman, that he can turn it around here in the second half.
His expected batting average still ranks in the 90th percentile, so some positive regression should be headed Hoerner's way moving forward.
And the last disappointing player was Phil Madden.
The Cubs don't usually sign relievers to multi-year deals.
They did it with Madden, and it's gonna bite them because Madden has off to a poor start with the Cubs in his first year with the team.
Had over a six ERA in the first half, not looking good, and there isn't much optimism either moving forward as his expected batting a- as expected batting average against expected ERA, barrel rate, walk rate, all rank in the bottom 20% of the league.
So obviously not great news for Madden here moving forward.
But who was your biggest disappointment on this Cubs team in the first half?
Let me know down below.
And as always, guys, go Cubs go.
