Late-Inning (What’s The Opposite of Heroics?)
While much of the focus has been on the Cubs bullpen blowing these extra-inning and close games, there has been another culprit.
Cubs Offense Innings 1-6:
.290/.333/.459 66 Runs
National League Average:
258/330/404 56 Runs
Top Performers:
Aramis Ramirez: 429/457/810
Derrek Lee: 400/492/520
Michael Barrett: 308/370/641
Ryan Theriot: 467/467/533
Mark Derosa: 244/279/634
Cubs Offense from the 7th Inning on:
212/299/288 21 Runs
National League Average:
247/331/382 26 Runs
Note: Only the Giants have a worse offense from the 7th inning on in terms of OPS. The Cubs have the 7th most plate appearances from the 7th inning on but the third least amount of runs scored.
Top Performers:
Jacque Jones: 368/478/421
Bottom Feeders:
Michael Barrett: 200/273/200
Aramis Ramirez: 150/227/150
Ryan Theriot: 150/227/150
Floyd, Murton, Izturis and Soriano all have OPS' under .600 after the 7th inning as well.
The bullpen is 0-6 this year, 7th in ERA and 4th in innings pitched and tied for 2nd worst with three blown saves (none by Ryan Dempster though who has curbed his walks to 3 in 11 innings pitched so far). While the bullpen has certainly not been spectacular and Scott Eyre has been particularly awful, as a whole they've been forced to do more than they should thanks to an anemic late-game offense that cannot muster any runs in our 3 extra-inning losses, nor has done much of anything to pad our leads.
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