CHICAGO — The Cubs looked to get back to their winning ways with the Kansas City Royals in town to open a three-game set.
The offense got off to an early start, but the struggles of Ben Brown – recalled before the game from Triple-A Iowa – undid that fast outburst as the Cubs fell to the Royals 12-4 on Monday night.
The loss at least briefly dropped the Cubs (59-41) to second place in the National League Central, half a game behind the Milwaukee Brewers, who opened a series on the West Coast against the Seattle Mariners.
The Cubs had been in first place for 90 straight days entering Monday.
Here are three takeaways from the loss:
Brown’s bugaboos
Brown was optioned to the minor leagues last month as his struggles in the majors compounded and the urgency within the first-place Cubs meant they needed to send him down to get him right as they chased wins.
Yet another injury to their already depleted rotation (Jameson Taillon) meant Brown was needed for the start of the three-game set with Kansas City. But Brown had made just two starts in Iowa – allowing one earned run across nine innings – as the Cubs worked to limit his innings.
Craig Counsell and the Cubs tried to give Brown a soft landing – they used right-hander Ryan Brasier as the opener. It was a strategy that had worked in the past; he pitched six scoreless innings with one hit and nine strikeouts on May 31 against the Reds.
But Brown’s struggles remerged – he surrendered six earned runs on seven hits and allowed a pair of home runs in four innings of work. The night spiked his ERA to 6.48 and highlights the Cubs’ need for more pitching before the trade deadline at the end of the month.
There’s probably not going to be a trade completed in the coming days – Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and history have told us moves don’t happen until right against the deadline. That means this spot in the rotation will come up one more time before then.
As they suddenly find themselves in a dogfight in the division, the Cubs need to correct that spot.
Second-place Cubs
As a caveat, you might be reading this after the Brewers game and it might be a different situation, but for at least a few hours, the Cubs dropped to second place in the division for the first time since April 2.
A large part of that is the absolute tear that the Brewers have been on. Since May 25, the Brewers are 34-12, a .739 winning percentage or a 120-win pace. That’s an insane run and whether that’s sustainable is hard to believe.
But there’s no denying it: The Brewers are good, and it should make for an interesting dogfight down the stretch for the division crown. The Cubs have made an emphasis that they won’t worry about Milwaukee unless they’re playing them – which happens in a week at American Family Field – and that’s the right approach to take.
One interesting component about the two teams, though, is the vast difference in their remaining contests. The Brewers have the seventh-hardest remaining strength of schedule (.510 winning percentage for their opponents, per Tankathon), while the Cubs are tied for the easiest (.480).
Another Shaw blast
Hoyer and the Cubs front office will explore options at the hot corner before the end of the month – ranking last in many offensive categories from that position will do that.
But in the meantime, former top prospect Matt Shaw will continue to get the bulk of the playing time and – just maybe – make a case that he’s still the top option this season at the position. Shaw had a three-run home run in the fourth inning that gave the Cubs an early 4-1 lead.
He finished 2-for-4 on the day and is now 6-for-11 with two home runs and four RBI after the All-Star break. That’s an extremely small sample size, but an encouraging development, nonetheless, if he can keep it up moving forward, regardless of the Cubs’ potential moves before the trade deadline.
The Cubs still believe in the 23-year-old and as has been the case with players like Pete Crow-Armstrong and Miguel Amaya, development at the major-league level happens all the time and no one can predict when it’ll click for a player.
Hoyer and his brass might still pull the trigger on a third baseman if the right deal makes sense, regardless of Shaw’s next eight games or so, but having him continue to find success at the plate is a good thing for the Cubs.