It's like a bad horror movie. You're looking around at four of five people, going 'okay, he's the star of the movie, he can't die, her character's immortal, she can't die, I saw this character in another scene from the trailer, he can't die, this character's important to the plot, she can't die...I guess that guy's gonna die next.' And then when he does you aren't surprised at all.
That's what watching the Cubs in July is like. Looking at Willson Contreras, going 'well at least he'll get a cool death.'
It's pretty obvious that Contreras is gonna get dealt at the trade deadline. From the moment he was spared from last year's Cubs contractual bloodbath, people knew he'd be gone sometime after somehow, and now that the Cubs are reforming around Nico Hoerner, Seiya Suzuki and Christopher Morel...yeah, it's pretty clear he doesn't have much time left in Chicago. I think he's okay with it, he's well-loved by the fans and he won a ring but...yeah, I think he wants to compete again. I used to think the Mets were gonna get him, but now I hear from my Mets fan friends that they're probably gonna bring up Alvarez soon enough, so...who knows? The Giants maybe? Cleveland?
There's also the possibility that Ian Happ might go too, and while it's not quite as lethal to the Cubs' output as Contreras, it does leave more room for people to try and jump in and see if they can stick around, like what a lot of the last half of 2021 was. And is the combo of Suzuki, Morel and Rafael Ortega gonna be enough for that outfield? At least you can feasibly say that Yan Gomes or P.J. Higgins [probably Higgins, someone might trade for Gomes as a backup] will cover the backstop once Contreras leaves. The outfield, yes they have people, but are they, like, good people? Seiya Suzuki had a great start, but have his subsequent numbers been enough to reassure people?
At the very least, at least Nico Hoerner is playing worth his potential, and is hitting .308 with 81 hits in 74 games. I always assumed Hoerner and Nick Madrigal would blossom into a nice double play combo, and while Madrigal is once again hurt, Hoerner has done well working with David Bote, and he could be a nice foundational piece as this team figures out its direction over the next few seasons. I know it took him a while to get here, and I'm glad he's here now.
The Cubs honestly have a decent chance of eventually lapping the Pirates and finishing in third. They have a lot of cool pieces that could propel them upward, and getting Schwindel back from the IL does give their lineup a bit of a boost. Their pitching staff has a lot of depth and a lot of multi-role guys, so it's a versatile group, even without Kyle Hendricks. I don't think the Cubs have enough to really compete in the second half, but they have enough to finish somewhat admirably, which is a start.
Coming Tonight: A guy who had a pretty impressive scoreless start, and is still somewhat riding on a low ERA despite his team falling into awful luck.
Both of them had an air of finality in last night's post game interviews. It was a sad sight.
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