On the first day of the last month of the regular season, Cubs team president Jed Hoyer spoke with confidence about his hitters.
That’s easy to do on the heels of a record-setting home-run derby.
The Cubs established a new franchise mark with nine long balls Monday in their win over the Brewers and also leaped into the major-league record books by finishing August with 62 dingers, the most ever in the National League in one calendar month and the second-highest single-month total in history.
“To hit 62 homers in a month is insane,” right-handed pitcher Kevin Gausman said.
Those shots helped establish the Cubs as baseball’s best offensive team at the start of September, with 742 runs scored, 196 homers and a .341 on-base percentage.
They’re eight games behind the Brewers in the NL Central standings but still stand out as one of the championship contenders.
“One through nine, they’re coming at you,” Gausman said of the Cubs’ order. “There’s not too many holes.”
But Hoyer wasn’t exactly all smiles Tuesday, his confidence in the bats and gloves not matched by his thoughts about the pitching — and recent results. Although the Cubs (78-60) finished August with a bang with their scalding bats, they came into September having dropped four of their previous five series.
“We’ve been really streaky, which has put us in a good position, but obviously we’ve had some series recently where we’ve struggled,” Hoyer said. “We’ve got to play well consistently. That’s what has my attention the most. We’ve done that for large periods of the season. This late-August period wasn’t our strongest.
“The position-playing group, we’re the No. 1 offense, No. 1 defense right now. That’s wonderful. Obviously, that’s the backbone of our team. . . . There’s no question of what our strength is. [But] we do need to get consistent starting pitching, throw strikes consistently and hopefully let the position players do the work.”
Hoyer’s worst fears were realized Tuesday as the Cubs’ pitchers were unable to hold back the Brewers (85-53) in a 9-4 loss. Left-hander Matthew Boyd, who finished August with a 5.23 ERA in five starts, wasn’t too bad, charged with three runs in 5 „ innings. Instead, it was more blues for a bullpen that has struggled since the start of the most recent road trip, when closer Jacob Webb allowed walk-off home runs in consecutive outings. Cubs relievers allowed nine runs in losses to the Reds last weekend.
Four relievers combined to give up six runs Tuesday. Right-hander Daniel Palencia (2-2) took the loss, balking a runner home and surrendering a two-run homer in the game-flipping sixth. Only recently back from a lengthy stay on the injured list, Palencia has a 16.20 ERA in four appearances since returning.
“It’s been tough, for sure, but this is baseball. I’m going to have bad days,” Palencia said after the game. “This is not me. I want the ball tomorrow.”
Said Boyd: “Sometimes you get punched in the face. We’ve all gone through it at different points in our careers and in the season. It’s about responding, punching back. . . . No doubt that [Palencia is] going to.”
Since Aug. 21, Cubs relievers have a 5.97 ERA in 11 games.
“We’ve got to pitch better, there’s no question,” manager Craig Counsell said. “But these are the guys, man. This is them. So we’ve got to help them get better, and we’ve got to get outs.”
All this while lefty starter Shota Imanaga comes off back-to-back clunkers and leads the majors with 33 home runs allowed, bringing to mind his late-season struggles a year ago. Like the Cubs’ hitters, their pitchers started September as the MLB leaders in homers, with 209 allowed.
“When the ball’s in play, we have the best chance of any team to catch it,” Hoyer said. “But we can’t do much if [it] goes in the seats.”
That’s not to say the outlook is dire. Hoyer’s trade-deadline work has been a success so far. Gausman and fellow righty Clay Holmes have been mostly great since being acquired, with Hoyer describing them as “stabilizing forces.” But the arms in general need to be better more often if the Cubs are going to be the last team standing.
“We’re just trying to get to a point where if we can get consistent starts, we know with our position-playing group, our offense, that we’ll fare well,” Hoyer said.
