Crosstown Watch: Cubs improving while White Sox are declining |
CHICAGO - The Cubs started out the season a little better than their Chicago rivals. However, going further into the season has led to an even deeper divide between the Cubs and Sox. With the Cubs sitting at 8-6 versus the White Sox at 6-10, the Cubs are clearly the better team in Chicago right now.
Looking at the past 10 games, that is what really shows how these teams have changed drastically. While the Cubs have won seven of their last 10 games, the Sox have lost seven of their last 10. Further, the Cubs are sitting second in the NL Central, which is a statistically more difficult division right now. The Milwaukee Brewers are sitting on top at 11-5 with the Cubs at second, the Pittsburgh Pirates close behind at 9-7, the St Louis Cardinals at 7-9, and finally, the Cincinnati Reds at 6-9. All of the teams in the NL Central have a win percentage of .400 or better. But, just like last season, the White Sox are in the statistically easier division in the AL Central and are struggling as they still sit in third. The Minnesota Twins are the team to beat at 10-6. All of the other teams in the AL Central have a lower win percentage than the Cubs, and three out of the five teams, including the White Sox, are doing worse than the Reds. In addition, even with the new playoff format, the Cubs would make the playoffs in the No. 5 seed, while the White Sox would not make it. Also showing the strength of the NL Central as a whole, the sixth seed would belong to the Pittsburgh Pirates, sending three out of the five teams in the division to the playoffs, with the Brewers getting a first-round bye at No. 2 seed. While the playoffs are a long way off, this still goes to show the strength of the NL Central and how the White Sox are lagging behind the Cubs. Although the Cubs are the best team in Chicago right now, there is still more they can do to improve. Shortstop Dansby Swanson leads the MLB right now in hits with 19, yet the team as a whole is No. 13 in the league with 133 hits, and they are last in at-bats with only 485. Part of the reason their numbers are low is that they have played fewer games, but it can also be seen in their scores. In six of their games, they have scored three or fewer runs. They won three of those games. When they score six or more runs, which accounts for five of their games, they won all except one. While it’s not realistic to score six runs per game and the average number of runs scored in a game in 2018 was 4.43. Thus, while low scores are common, it couldn’t hurt the Cubs to score more runs in their games, and this needs to come from more than one player. They have already started to improve in this manner, though. Third baseman Patrick Wisdom has hit a home run three games in a row and has six on the season, putting him tied for third in the MLB. Left-fielder Ian Happ also has six doubles this season, which is tied for No. 9 in the league. Their series against the Oakland Athletics (3-13) starts tonight (8:40 p.m./NBCSCA) with right-hander Hayden Wesneski for Chicago and lefty Kyle Muller for the A’s. It will continue tomorrow (8:40 p.m./NBCSCA) with right-hander Marcus Stroman who has an earned run average of 1.00, the seventh-lowest in the league. Oakland will have left-hander Ken Waldichuk for this game. The series will conclude on Wednesday (2:37 p.m./NBCSCA) with left-hander Justin Steele at pitcher for the Cubs and right-hander James Kaprielian for the Athletics.
