Boom or Bust? Day 2: Chicago Cubs

Oh, the Cubs. The 1908 World Series winners, but nothing since. 104 tough years have gone by, and no series has happened on the north side of Chicago. But, it could happen soon. The Cubs have some young blood in Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo, who have proven can play at very high levels. Still, there are some issues here.

Offense:

The Cubs offense has been terrible. Batting .239 as a team (12 in NL), the Cubs have not been able to get hits. And their .296 OBP? It's 13th in the NL. And, this hasn't turned into runs (109 runs, 12 in NL). And, only Nate Schierholtz (.305 AVG) and Wellington Castro (.307 AVG) have averages that are over .300. But, their .413 SLG is 3rd in NL. So, the Cubs just seem to score by getting extra base hits.

Grade: D+ (Terrible average, hard to get on base)

Pitching Totals:

The Cubs pitching has been very good, especially in the rotation. They rank in the top 10 in the NL in 9 pitching categories.

Rotation:

The Cub rotation has been very, very good so far. With four pitchers with ERAs under 3.50 (Samardzija, Villanueva, Wood, Feldman), the Cubs rotation has held strong with the bad offense. The WHIP has been good in the rotation too (1.17, 0.93, 0.91, 1.61, 1.28). With numbers like these, the Cubs should be right in most of their games.

Bullpen:

Kevin Gregg has been a very good closer for the team (4/4 in save opportunities), after Carlos Marmol and Kyuji Fujikawa didn't pan out for the position. But, there are always downsides. Besides James Russel (0.00 ERA, 16 GMS), the Cubs have nobody in their bullpen with an ERA below 4.00 with at least 2 apperances. There's an issue there.

Grade: B- (Bullpen Issues, Starting Rotation still unproven)

Other Stats and Info:
--28.4 Average Age (Very Young)
--450,338 Total Attendance (7th in NL) (Through May 5)
--8 games out of first in NL Central (Through May 5)

Prediction: Bust (68-94, 5th NL Central)

The Cubs have offensive issues and need to bolster their lineup before they have any chaces of making the playoffs.