Chicago Cubs injury riddled season coming to a close

It has been a long season on the North Side for the Cubs. They currently sit in third place in the NL central at 62-84 and have been eliminated from playoff contention. Clearly the Cubs won’t be partaking in the post season this year.

Usually this is the time of the year where teams that have been eliminated from post season contention try out some new things for next year or give some young guys the call to the bigs. This is exactly what they are doing but boy is their lineup hard to watch at the moment.

Lackluster lineup

This is Chicago’s lineup for Monday’s game against the Miami Marlins:

Zach McKinstry, 2B
Ian Happ, LF
Yan Gomes, C
Franmil Reyes, DH
P.J. Higgins, 1B
David Bote, 3B
Nelson Velázquez, RF
Michael Hermosillo, CF
Chris Morel, SS

This might as well be an Iowa Cubs lineup, things have got to be rough injury wise when the third hitter in your lineup is a 35 year old catcher whom is hitting .242 this year. With Wilson Contreas, Nico hoerner, Seiya Suzuki, and Nick Madrigal all out, the Cubbies just don’t have that many options to bolster their lineup.

Even tonight’s starter Wade Miley who will be making just his seventh start of the season has spent an incredible amount of time on Chicago’s IL list.

Cubs expansive IL list

As for the Cubs IL list, it is something else to say the least. Across the 2022 MLB regular season the Cubs have placed 32 players on the IL and have spent over $41 million dollars on players who aren’t contributing due to injury. Chicago’s IL members have spent a combined 1,988 days on the IL this season which is the 4th highest total in all of the MLB.

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MIAMI – Cubs catcher Willson Contreras still has hurdles to clear before returning from a lingering left ankle sprain.

“You see the end in sight, and some personalities are like, ‘What’s the point of rushing back?’ and some personalities are like, ‘I’m pissed I’m hurt. I want to finish; I enjoy playing baseball,'” manager David Ross said before the Cubs’ 10-3 loss to the Marlins. “And I think Willson falls in that second category of, ‘I’m trying to get back. But also, I can only do so much with my ankle.'”

Ross said in running drills Sunday, Contreras felt fine moving in straight lines, but curves were “a little bit more challenging.”

Don’t just take Ross’ word when it comes to Contreras’ desire to stay on the field. He played through his ankle injury for weeks before landing on the injured list early this month. He initially rolled his ankle during the ‘Field of Dreams’ game on Aug. 11.

Contreras is also in a contract year, with just over two weeks left in the season to affect his market. Health will be a consideration for potential suitors in free agency for the 30-year-old catcher.

Second baseman Nick Madrigal (right groin strain) also has been going through a running and agility program.

Marlins mash Miley

Cubs lefty Wade Miley allowed seven runs in three-plus innings against the Marlins, in his third start back from the 60-day IL (left shoulder soreness).

“Just didn’t execute pitches,” Miley said. “Just couldn’t get the ball in glove-side at all, was fighting that the whole time. And then, they made an adjustment and gave up on that pitch and started diving out over [the plate]. I didn’t have any way to combat it.”

The Marlins did most of their damage against Miley on Bryan De La Cruz’s third-inning grand slam. Because of shortstop Christopher Morel’s throwing error earlier in the frame, those four runs were unearned.

Brault headed for rehab assignment

Cubs lefty Steven Brault (strained left shoulder) is scheduled to start a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday. Brault has been limited to nine major-league outings so far this season by a series of IL stints.

He signed a minor-league deal with the Cubs this spring after his physical revealed a triceps injury. The team called him up from Triple-A in July, but the next month, he spent two weeks on the COVID-19 related IL. He landed back in the IL with a shoulder injury in late August.

Hoerner taking grounders

Cubs shortstop Nico Hoerner has so far avoided the IL, after straining his right triceps about a week ago. Continuing baseball activities, Hoerner fielded ground balls before the Cubs’ blowout loss Monday.

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Matt Eberflus was not satisfied with the Bears’ offense in Week 2

Passing attempts were harder to find on the Chicago Bears Sunday Night Football telecast than a can of baby formula at your local grocery store. Quarterback Justin Fields finished the game with 11 passing attempts that resulted in 70 yards. Fields wasn’t targeting players analysts assumed would be a significant part of the Bears’ passing scheme. Bears head coach Matt Eberflus seemed frustrated on the sideline with the play on the field.

Wide receiver Darnell Mooney had one reception for -4 yards. That brings Mooney’s total this season to 4 receiving yards. Tight end Cole Kmet had nothing but a drop against the Packers. Kmet has yet to catch a pass this season.

The Bears’ passing game was also inept in Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers. The excuse made after the game was the rainy conditions. The Bears didn’t try passing much against the Packers. The Bears relied on the run. That game plan was solid enough to score 10 points in total. Three points came in the second half as the Bears tried to come back from being down 24-7 at halftime.

Eberflus addressed the offensive shortcomings in Monday’s press conference

Per Adam Hoge with CHGO Sports, Matt Eberflus said he trusts Fields to the ball more than 11 times in an NFL football game. Eberflus said he understands the passing game is struggling through the first two weeks and that the Bears aren’t doing a good job scheming to get playmakers the football.

Noted Padres fan @patrickfinley, wearing a Padres hat today, asks Matt Eberflus if he trusts Justin Fields to throw the ball more:

“Oh yeah, we trust him for sure.”

— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) September 19, 2022

Matt Eberflus acknowledges the passing game struggles and says they are looking at it: “It is a concern. We want to get better there. We want to improve.”

On getting Darnell Mooney involved: “We need to highlight our skill. We know that.”

— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) September 19, 2022

Eberflus tried to explain the Bears’ 11 passing attacks as a byproduct of a successful running attack that gained 23 fewer rushing yards than the Packers.

Matt Eberflus maintains that he and the Bears’ staff have confidence in Justin FIelds to throw the ball. The 11 pass attempts were just a product of the success of the Bears’ run game.

— Josh Schrock (@Schrock_And_Awe) September 19, 2022

Eberflus then articulated that he understood, following the Bears scoring 10 points after passing the ball 11 times, that the team needs to find a better balance of run and pass.

Matt Eberflus said he trusts Justin Fields to throw more than 11 times. Stresses the need for balance between run/pass.

— Patrick Finley (@patrickfinley) September 19, 2022

#Bears HC Matt Eberflus on lack of production in passing attack after two games: “It is a concern. We want to get better there.”

— Larry Mayer (@LarryMayer) September 19, 2022

Matt Eberflus should know this by Week 2

Matt Eberflus and the Bears coaching staff have been around the league enough to know they can’t run an offense this way. The admissions don’t mean anything unless the Bears change their play on the field from the first two weeks.

The 49ers game was a prelude to the offense the Bears thought would have a winning formula this season. Fields isn’t learning how to do anything in this offense but how to relieve an injured starting quarterback in the future by handing the ball off.

The Bears’ offense is finding ways to reach a new low in the passing game. Week 2 against the Packers needs to be this year’s bottom.

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MIAMI – Cubs manager David Ross expects right-hander KeeganThompson will be activated from the 15-day IL in the next few days.

“Just letting him recover from his [Friday rehab] outing,” Ross said, “and then some moving parts as far as other rotation spots and bullpen spots.”

The Cubs have a surplus of pitchers who can throw three to five innings, either in the rotation or out of the bullpen. Thompson, coming back from fatigue and a tight low back, will serve as a multi-inning reliever, at least at first.

“Things change daily, obviously,” Ross said. “We’ve seen that happen.”

For example, rookie Hayden Wesneski debuted two weeks ago as a reliever. But he made his first major-league start on Saturday and limited the Rockies to one run in seven innings. Now, Ross says he’s “pretty sure” Wesneski will make at least one more start.

“We see his potential as a starter,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said, pointing to the trade that sent side-armer Scott Effross to the Yankees for Wesneski. “That’s why we made that trade. We saw what he could do in the future, a starting rotation piece that can pitch deep into games. And he did that last outing, obviously. So, for me, the plan is, try to keep him on that as much as possible.”

At least for the next turn in the rotation – Hottovy said the team will reevaluate after his next start – Wesneski is one of six starting options, along with Marcus Stroman, Drew Smyly, Wade Miley, Adrian Sampson and Javier Assad.

The Cubs could move one of those arms at the back end of the rotation into the bullpen. They also have Adbert Alzolay, who the Cubs activated from the 60-day IL (strained right shoulder) on Saturday, serving as a multi-inning reliever.

Injuries are responsible for the moving pieces amongst the pitching staff. When Thompson returns from the IL, he will be the third Cubs pitcher to be reinstated this month who was in – or in Alzolay’s case, expected to be in – the rotation prior to injury.

Miley, a veteran, slotted right back into the rotation. But he has yet to top 75 pitches in three starts back.On Monday, he gave up seven runs to the Marlins in three innings.

For Alzolay and Thompson’s development, the Cubs are opting for relief roles. Alzolay, who was sidelined most of the season, was on a similar program at the end of last year. After coming back from a strained left hamstring that landed him on the IL for two and a half weeks, Alzolay joined the bullpen for the final month of last season.

“You’re always wanting to check a box,” Hottovy said. “For Adbert, OK, he fought throughout the year to get healthy, he got healthy in rehab. He’s rehabbed, now he’s back here. And now [that] he’s back here, he wants to finish strong. Keep checking those boxes so that when you go into the offseason, you feel mentally, like you’re in a good place, and you know what you need to work on.”

Thompson began the year as a multi-inning reliever and thrived in the role. Now, the Cubs are keeping a close eye on Thompson’s workload, in his first full major-league season.

“Keegan’s had an amazing year,” Hottovy said. “He’s done really, really good things. There’s also things he knows he still wants to work on. And checking the boxes like, finishing the season healthy, being able to say, ‘OK I had a full workload throughout the year, 100 to 125 innings. Now, you’re building off that for next year.”

The Cubs have not yet ruled out the return of yet another starter: Justin Steele. Hottovy said they’re hoping for Steele (strained low back) to throw his next bullpen at least during this road trip, if not this series. It’s already been a week since his last bullpen session.

When asked if a return this year was realistic, Hottovy drew a distinction between “realistic” and “smart.”

“Realistic is possible,” he said. “Whether we want to push it – he’s gonna have to check a lot of boxes to make sure that we’re in a good place where we’re like, ‘OK, we’re going to do it.’ Because we know what he’s done, we know the workload. But, again, there’s just that mental side to, ‘OK, I’m healthy, I feel good, I can go compete.”

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Kyler Gordon had a rookie outing against the Packers

Kyler Gordon came into the NFL having not given up a touchdown since before his college career started. It took Gordon’s first start playing on dry land before he gave up his first touchdown against the Green Bay Packers in Week 2. It appeared the Packers planned on targeting the Bears rookie cornerback.

It was a terrible game by Gordon. He looked sluggish on the field for most of his play against the Packers. According to PFF, he gave up 10 of his 13 targets and missed 28.6 percent of his tackles. That’s a frustrating performance by the Bears’ second-round draft pick.

The Bears had high hopes for Gordon this season. And the Bears aren’t planning on giving up on him yet. Bears head coach Matt Eberflus was asked about Gordon’s play on Sunday. Per Chris Emma of 670 The Score, Eberflus said Gordon needs to learn from this game.

“There’s going to be ebb and flow throughout the course of a rookie season. … Take one experience at a time and put it in your file. You have to learn from that.”

The Bears need Kyler Gordon to learn quickly

Kyler Gordon will have to learn from this game quickly, or the NFL will pick him apart. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was able to dissect his game in Week 2. Future Bears opponents are making notes on why Rodgers wanted to go at Gordon.

The Bears chose Gordon as a way to help quarterback Justin Fields by giving the offense a short field to work with. Gordon’s performance in Week 2 didn’t help Fields much at all. He’ll have a chance to redeem himself in Week 3 against Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills.

Gordon showed in the preseason against the Seattle Seahawks backup skilled players that he can make plays at the NFL level. Hopefully, we can see that play come against NFL starters this week.

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When you go into a season with precious few proven threats in the passing game, you better make sure to use them.

For the Bears to get anything going in that department this season, it was expected to come from leaning heavily on 1,000-yard receiver Darnell Mooney and steadily improving tight end Cole Kmet. If anything, there was concern about being overly dependent on those two.

Instead, they’re invisible.

Through two games, Mooney and Kmet have gotten a combined seven targets. Kmet doesn’t have a catch yet, dropping a five-yard pass from Justin Fields in the loss to the Packers on Sunday, and Mooney has just two for four yards.

Mooney’s lone catch in Green Bay actually cut his season yardage total in half, losing four on a doomed screen pass — symbolic of the overall dysfunction.

“It’s Week 2, so I don’t think too much of it,” he told the Sun-Times. “I just continue to push. I know what they think of me. They love me and they know the playmaker that I am. I’ll shine when I get the opportunities.”

But getting the opportunities isno certainty.

Fields completed just 7 of 11 passes for 70 yards, and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy insisted on pounding the ground game even with the Bears down 14 in the fourth quarter. On the drive that got them within an inch of making things interesting, Getsy called a run on 10 of 13 plays. The three pass plays were an incompletion, a sack for a loss of 10 yards as pass rusher Preston Smith went unblocked and scramble on third-and-goal at the 6-yard line.

The running game worked, but that’s at least in part because the Packers were correctly vigilant for passes. If the Bears wanted to grind their way nearly the length of the field and melt clock for half the fourth quarter, no problem.

That’s a time when Mooney and Kmet were absolutely necessary.

When Bears coach Matt Eberflus was asked Monday if it was possible for the Bears to have a thriving passing game without those two leading the way, he said, “No. I think you’ve gotta highlight your skill.”

Instead, eight Bears have targets over the first two games, led by Equanimeous St. Brown with seven. Running back David Montgomery is the only player with more than three catches.

Unpredictability isn’t worth very much in this case. The Bears have the fewest yards passing in the NFL by far (169), fewest passes (28), the second-worst passer rating (69.2) and the lowest completion percentage (53.6).

“Let’s feed the guys that have skill that can take a short throw and turn it into a big gain,” Eberflus said. “And we have a good deep ball thrower, so we should utilize that, too. We’re going to look at all aspects of that.”

That’s not a real answer if it never gets implemented. Matt Nagy knew every Monday what his team should’ve done the day before, and that got him nowhere.

Is the real issue that the Bears are deliberately going ultra-conservative offensively to minimize what they ask of Fields? Eberflus said no, but it seems highly likely. And if that’s by necessity, it’s a troubling sign in his second season.

Is the offensive line so shaky that Kmet has become indispensible as a blocker? All Eberflus offered was, “We’re looking into that,” but Kmet has run routes on just 26 snaps so far, and that’s not how teams typically use their best pass-catching tight end.

There’s too much at stake and Fields’ development is too urgently important for this to go unsolved. They can’t just be endlessly looking into it. By the time the Bears establish the panel to appoint a committee to form a task force to determine why they aren’t making the most of Mooney and Kmet, the season will have gotten away from them.

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Outfielder Seiya Suzuki’s first major-league season has had its ups and downs, but an upswing in the last month has positioned him among the better Cubs rookies of the expansion era, which started in 1961.

Suzuki, who is in Japan on paternity leave, has a .769 OPS, 115 weighted runs created plus and 1.7 Fangraphs WAR in 417 plate appearances.

That sits comfortably among Cubs position players who won National League Rookie of the Year awards. It’s not in the ballpark with 2015 winner Kris Bryant (.857, 136, 6.1) or 2008 winner Geo Soto (.868, 120, 3.0), but it compares favorably to 1989 winner Jerome Walton (.720, 103, 2.0), 1961 winner Billy Williams (.822, 110, 1.2) and 1962 winner Ken Hubbs (.645, 70, minus-0.6).

Among notable non-award winners, Adolfo Phillips put up a 3.4 fWAR in 1966, second among expansion-era Cubs rookie position players; Mel Hall, who appeared in 12 seasons with a 7.0 career fWAR, had 2.9 of it with the Cubs in 1983; and middle infielder Addison Russell, who had a 2.6 fWAR in 2015, did it with defense despite a 90 wRC+.

Suzuki won’t win NL Rookie of the Year. A pair of Braves figure to be the leaders, with pitcher Spencer Strider (11-5, 2.67 ERA, 4.9 fWAR) the favorite over outfielder Michael Harris II (.305/.344/.541, 18 home runs, 4.4 fWAR).

For Suzuki, however, getting to this point has required a turnaround. He bottomed out at a .717 OPS on Aug. 20. He was hitting .241/.315/.402 for 100 wRC+ and a mere 0.8 fWAR. A 100 wRC+ signifies a league-average hitter, and league-average offense isn’t particularly valuable from a corner outfielder.

But Suzuki has been a different player since Aug. 21, hitting .337/.406/.545, with his 96 plate appearances including four of his 13 homers. His star-level 164 wRC+ is 24th in baseball for that period, and he has tacked 0.9 on to his fWAR.

During the hot streak, 25% of Suzuki’s batted balls have been line drives. Before Aug. 21, only 17% were liners. According to Fangraphs data, in the earlier period, Suzuki generated soft contact on 20.1% of batted balls, medium on 51.5% and hard on 28.4%. Of late, there has been much more hard contact, with soft on 16.2%, medium on 39.7% and hard on 44.1%.

The season has gone in the opposite direction for the Cubs rookie with the next-highest fWAR. Man of many positions Christopher Morel is at 1.4 fWAR for the season, with 104 wRC+ and a .727 OPS.

When Suzuki bottomed out, Morel was riding high with a .788 OPS, 120 wRC+ and 1.7 WAR. Since Aug. 21, the numbers have nosedived to a .459 OPS on .141/.225/.234 hitting, 33 wRC+ — one-third that of an average hitter — and minus-0.4 fWAR.

The cold streak is only 72 plate appearances, and Cubs fans can hope it’s no omen. Worrisome is a 40.3% strikeout rate that has rocketed after 30.5% in the earlier period.

For Suzuki, however, the arrow is pointing up when he returns to Wrigley.

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The Bears’ most veteran player had advice for a young team one day after the Bears’ 27-10 loss to the rival Packers at Lambeau Field.

“Don’t get used to the feeling of losing,” defensive end Robert Quinn said Monday at Halas Hall. “At the end of the day, as individuals, we’ve just gotta be consistent. Do our assignment and try not to worry about anyone else’s. Keep things simple. … Do your job and everything should fall into place.”

The Bears began the season with 15 rookies. None had lost an NFL game until Sunday. Few were as much a part of the defeat as rookie cornerback Kyler Gordon. The second-round pick knew the Packers were picking on him even as they did it; he gave up 10 catches on 13 targets for 162 yards and one touchdown, per Pro Football Focus.

“There’s a lot of learning,” Gordon said.

Coach Matt Eberflus huddled with Gordon Monday afternoon.

“It’s everything I say to every young player that I’ve ever played that’s gone through these moments: There’s going to be ebb and flow over the course of a rookie season, and that’s the way it is,” Eberflus said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re dealing with a guy that’s rookie of the year or not, there’s going to be those things.

“And what you tell them is ‘Hey, take one experience at a time and put it in your file.’ You have to learn from that. So, go back and look at all the plays that you made, all the plays that you want to correct and then put them in a file. … And say, ‘What would I have done and put those to memory?’ And making sure you study those things and visualize those things as you go during the course of this week coming up, so you can make those corrections. Because a good pro doesn’t make the same mistake twice.”

Right guard rotation

The Bears have split their right guard rotation almost exactly evenly this season. One week after Teven Jenkins played 53 percent of the snaps against the 49ers, Lucas Patrick played 54 percent against the Packers. Jenkins has played 50 snaps at right guard and Patrick 49.

Asked if he’d settled on a right guard yet, Eberflus left open the possibility Patrick’s right thumb would be healed soon, so he could return to center.

“It depends on where we have Lucas … depending on what he can do with his thumb,” Eberflus said.

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Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy’s developmental plan for quarterback Justin Fields is all about incremental, steady growth — stepping stones to success instead of a flip-the-switch, breakthrough moment. He just wants Fields to get better from game to game.

It’s a textbook plan to develop the talented Fields into an elite quarterback. But it’s unlikely to happen 11 passes at a time.

That’s the challenge facing Getsy after two weeks of his first season as an offensive coordinator. Fields threw just 11 passes (plus three sacks) in the Bears’ 27-10 loss to the Packers on Sunday night at Lambeau Field — a game in which the Bears were trailing for 48:50 out of 60 minutes.

Fields completed 7-of-11 passes for 70 yards, no touchdowns and one interception for a 43.8 passer rating. Getsy instead leaned on the running game. David Montgomery had 15 carries for 122 yards (8.1 avg.) and Khalil Herbert added four carries for 38 yards as the Bears rushed for 180 yards on 27 carries –averaging 6.7 yards per carry.

“We were going with what was working,” Eberflus said. “We were hitting some big runs and it was working for us and it [could have] put us into a one-score game [with] eight minutes [left].”

Eberflus said it’s not because the Bears don’t have faith in Fields. “We trust him for sure.” But 11 passes in a game the Bears are trailing by two touchdown for the entire second half says otherwise.

Let’s face it, the Bears aren’t ready to lean on Justin Fields right now. He’s not good enough. He’s running an offense that still has training wheels on. He’s can’t lift a team on his shoulders against a formidable defense. Not with this supporting cast. Not yet. He doesn’t have a Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill. He doesn’t have a Justin Jefferson. His offensive line has now played two games together.

The Bears are paying the price for putting everything on Getsy to devise and install a scheme that will make the most of Darnell Mooney, Cole Kmet, Equanimeous St. Brown and Byron Pringle. General manager Ryan Poles watched Sunday night’s game from the Lambeau Field press box with his eyes wide open.

This was by Poles’ design. He sees a bright future. Everyone else sees Mooney and Kmet with a combined two catches for four yards after two games, and shudders. And you can’t blame them. At this point we have no more confirmation that Fields eventually will make than we ever had about Mitch Trubisky.

But it’s Week 3.

Through two weeks of the regular season, Getsy’s approach to developing Fields is almost the polar opposite of Matt Nagy’s approach with Trubisky. In two games, Fields is averaging 14 passes. In his first season under Nagy in 2018, Trubisky averaged 31.8 passes a game.

There has to be a happy medium, and Getsy surely will be looking for that. Eberflus is.

“I think you need balance,” Eberflus said. “We’d like to be 50/50 [run-pass] in a game … because that keeps the defense honest.”

The Bears didn’t get that balance against the Packers — officially a 66/34 balance with 27 running plays and 14 passing plays. The next move is Getsy’s, starting Sunday against the Texans at Soldier Field. When Nagy was lambasted for running the ball just seven times against the Saints in 2019, he overcompensated by running the ball 38 times against the Chargers the following week — and lost, 17-16.

Coming off a disappointing loss to the Raiders in London, that Saints-Chargers episode was one of the first significant red flags about Nagy’s ability to develop a sustainable offense. It’s a little too early to start defining Luke Getsy, but Sunday’s game will go a long way to quelling some early nervous skepticism about yet another Bears offense.

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