Cubs still cursed?

Chicago, IL -

If you want to see a cursed team, look no further than the Chicago Cubs. It's pretty easy to just say, "Oh that's hocus pocus. There is no such thing as curses." In less than 500 hundred words I will prove it to you.

There have been two teams in the last six real MLB seasons that have compiled a worse 1-run record than the Cubs this year in the SBS. Currently the Cubs sit at an awful 12-27 in one run games. Only the Braves in 2008 and the Orioles and 2007 have done worse since 2004.

What can we credit the 1-run loss to? One might blame the bullpen typically but in the Cubs case, you cannot..for the most part. The bullpen ERA is the best in the NL and one of the best in the Majors. There may lie individual blame beyond the three Sub-2.00 ERA pitchers. Bob Scanlan and Turk Wendell have appeared in over 30 games this season and have ERA's over 3.00. Ah-ha! Well, too bad they haven't blown a save yet this year. They typically the field when the game is already over, apparently. Wendell has pitched in zero games in the last 10 that the Cubs won and Scanlan has pitched in one game in the last 10 where the Cubs won. The problem doesn't lie in the bullpen.

The starting pitchers could be the problem. They have the 7th best ERA in the NL which basically puts them in the middle of the pack. But in comparison to the offense, the pitching staff has given up over 90 runs LESS (458) than the offense has scored (547) and that includes a recent 12-0 walloping handed out by Atlanta last week and the next day a 9-3 defeat.
Where is the problem coming from? The hitting in innings 7-9 are slightly below average with Grace hitting near .200 and he's our 3 hitter setting up for Bichette who's batting over .320 in the same innings. Perhaps it's time to shift the order around based on who can hit in the late innings since our bullpen is surely not going to give up many runs and the offense needs to do something differently in those very important innings.

But that's not good enough to say the Cubs are not cursed. Let's go one more step.. INJURIES. The Cubs two best offensive players are out with injuries for the next four to six weeks; possibly more if they don't bounce back quickly. Quilvio Veras and Dante Bichette have both suffered injuries within the last two days. Bichette will be a loss but can be replaced with Derrick May and Walton who's production has been only slightly below Bichettes. The major problem is going to replace Veras with ... Augie Ojeda?

Perhaps Mike Lowell is ready for the show.

Bring back the goat!