Cubs Shouldn’t Overreact to Jacob Webb’s Walk-Off Collapse
Jacob Webb's first bad outing in months should not overshadow his dominant season or prompt changes in the Cubs bullpen.
Video Transcript
It's always tough to lose a close game.
It's even harder to lose a game in walk-off fashion, and Saturday night against the Seattle Mariners was back-breaking for the Cubs.
They led four to two with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, then a single, a double, that scored one run and brought up the go-ahead winning run to the plate.
Randy Arozarena, who hit the first pitch of the bottom of the first out for a home run, hits a walk-off home run, a big blown save by Jacob Webb, back-to-back walk-off losses for the Chicago Cubs.
And the Mariners left fielder made a little bit of history right on the heels of Pete Crow-Armstrong.
He becomes just the third player ever, joining PCA, who did it earlier this week, to hit the first pitch his team sees for a home run and the last pitch his team sees for a home run.
It was only done by Vic Power back in nineteen fifty-seven.
So truly just a devastating, inexplicable loss for the Cubs, one that could ultimately be their end in the NL Central, now seven games back of the Brewers.
But even with that being the case, Cubs fans and the Cubs themselves should not overreact to this outing.
Jacob Webb has been a really productive pitcher dating back to June twenty-first.
Before Saturday night, he had a scoreless inning streak of twenty-four and two thirds scoreless with an oh point ninety-three WHIP, a perfect zero point zero zero ERA, twenty-five strikeouts to ten walks.
Craig Counsell is able to see that.
He talked about how good Jacob Webb has been in that closer role and said, "He's gonna be out there the next time there's an opportunity."
And I'd encourage a similar line of thinking from Cubs fans.
Daniel Palencia, yes, back in the bullpen.
Palencia is going to be an out-getter, will not be the closer, and frankly, Jacob Webb has earned this spot.
Had the pop-up single by Leo Rivas been caught and the Cubs secured that save, there wouldn't be two thoughts about how dominant of a closing pitcher he has been.
So as much as it might hurt, as much as it could be devastating to their chances at winning the division, there shouldn't be an overreaction about what this says about the Cubs as a playoff team, a clear-cut playoff team, and Jacob Webb as their clear best option from a closing standpoint.
