What's Wrong With The Chicago Cubs?

Who's to blame for the Chicago Cubs' recent tailspin?

Jun 1, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki (27) drops a fly ball. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

This weekend brought more disappointing baseball from the Chicago Cubs, who continued to lose ground in the standings. They lost two of three at home against the Cincinnati Reds, falling to third place in the NL Central behind the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals after Sunday's 5-2 loss to the Reds.

It was another underwhelming showing for the Cubs, who have now lost six straight series and 14 of 19 games during that stretch. Chicago has plummeted in the standings as a result, falling from first place in early May to third place and 7.5 games out of first less than a month later. If the season ended today, the Cubs would miss the playoffs.

Injuries have played a significant role, of course, with numerous key players already missing time this year. That said, Chicago's gotten healthier lately and is nearly back to full strength. Injuries aren't a viable excuse anymore -- the team simply isn't playing well and has glaring flaws in several key areas.

With their loss today, the Cubs have now loss 6 consecutive series. pic.twitter.com/MImLJqFiFX

— Cubs Zone (@CubsZone) June 2, 2024

For starters, Chicago's offense has been an absolute mess lately, cooling off after a hot start. The Cubs are averaging just 3.4 runs per game over their last 34, going 12-22 during that span. Their main issue at the plate is that they don't get enough hits, ranking 14th in batting average and 12th in hits among National League teams. Their catchers have been awful offensively and they need lineup mainstays like Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, Christopher Morel and Dansby Swanson to start pulling their weight.

Chicago has also compounded that issue by frequently running into outs on the bases, ranking in the bottom two in that category. The Cubs have often been too aggressive on the bases, making costly mistakes and killing their own rallies.

Defensively, Chicago is one of the worst teams in baseball, ranking 28th in FanGraphs' defensive metric. The Cubs are giving opponents too many extra outs with their poor fielding, putting additional stress on their depleted pitching staff.

Lastly, Chicago's bullpen has been shaky, already blowing a number of saves thanks to the late-inning struggles of Adbert Alzolay and Hector Neris.

The Cubs need to improve in these facets of the game if they want to make the playoffs this year. They've been too sloppy over the first two months of the season, and they need to clean up their fundamentals if they want to start winning consistently again.