How to use the Cubs to Make Money
You might soon be able to make sports bets at your favorite land-based or casino online. In this article, we’ll go into some depth as to why we think the Chicago Cubs are already toast and how you can benefit from that knowledge.
Starting Pitching
There were very high hopes that the Cubs would be better in this area this year over last but, in fact, they are worse. Only Kyle Hendricks and Jon Lester have pitched even reasonably well. The biggest hopes were placed on the shoulders of Yu Darvish and Jose Quintana but both pitcher’s shoulders have sagged dramatically from the weight.
It isn’t just their high ERA’s that are a major cause for concern. They have trouble finishing the fifth inning. The overworked bullpen was their downfall last year as it imploded completely in the NLCS giving up walks and needing to groove pitches in order to get strikes.
Last year saw a massive increase in home runs with batters swinging to increase launch angle and maximize bat speed and exit velocity. Clearly the Cubs’ pitching coaches have no idea how to make the necessary adjustments to keep home runs allowed down. The Cubs also had a terrible run of bad weather to start the season. Bad weather usually means that winds are blowing across the field minimizing wind-blown home runs or are blowing in even further keeping home runs down. Nevertheless, the Cubs are giving up far too many home runs.
We can only imagine the devastation that will occur at Wrigley Field when those outbound summer winds start blowing pushing fly balls into the bleachers. Combining the wind-blown variety with the hard-hit variety will create a worst-case scenario in which the Cubs will need to score historically high numbers of runs just to stay close to the wild card slot.
Relief Pitching
The relief pitchers are overworked as we stated above. In addition, the Cubs don’t have a lockdown relief staff even when the players are not being overworked. Mike Montgomery will lose speed in July or August from simple fatigue. C. J. Edwards and Brandon Morrow have pitched extremely well but how many times can Joe Maddon call on them to hold onto a win in the eighth and ninth innings? It isn’t that the other relievers aren’t good pitchers; the Cubs have their eye on the World Series and this relief corps taken in its entirety has wild card and early exit written all over it.
If Milwaukee continues to improve, St. Louis continues to get timely performances, and Pittsburg continues to play better than expected, the Cubs will lose enough games in their division to fail to even reach the wild card game.
Hitting
These Cubs should be using the field, taking balls, and under-emphasizing home runs. Kris Bryant has a great home run swing but it would be even more destructive if he were to rework it into a doubles swing. Anthony Rizzo seems incapable of learning to beta the shift and pitchers are making mincemeat out of him as he tries to lift and pull every time he swings.
There are so many everyday players who are simply not using the field as they should. Willson Contreras has a perfect doubles swing as does Addison Russell. Jason Heyward has had problems hitting for two full seasons and well into the third. He would improve dramatically if he adopted a Pete Rose or Tony Gwynn approach: his home run hitting days are over and he should hit to all fields and be satisfied with singles and doubles. Every time he hits a ball over an outfielders head, we expect him to go hitless in his next two or three games.
The Cubs are still flailing and failing to move runners along and get runners home from third base with less than two outs. These are situations where home runs are certainly welcome but not necessary.
David Ross
No one is saying it but the Cubs seriously miss David Ross. He knew how to keep himself in the moment and it rubbed off on the other players. After the World Series win, he was asked if he was thinking about his family during the game and he answered, “Not at all. I was in the moment.” Not at all means not for a moment.
After the Cubs had won the Series, the first thing he thought of was his family.
The Cubs seem to not be able to fully appreciate situational hitting and continue to have bad at bats when the situation calls for better bat control and knowledge of the strike zone.
The Exciting One
This brings us to Javi Baez, one of the most talented players to reach the majors in recent years. His raw talent is astonishing and he has the potential to become an immortal superstar. How much better would his production be if he didn’t seemingly give pitchers two free strikes every time he came to bat in a run-producing situation?
Atmosphere
The feeling we get when we watch the Cubs is that the team is frustrated. The players are not making the necessary adjustments and the frustration will likely increase as the losses pile up. This is a team that should win close to 100 games but is struggling to win 80 games. We hope that Joe Maddon gets his team under control soon as we have seen manty teams with great talent go through a difficult period and lose the edge they need to win 60% or more of their games.
It’s so hard to win baseball games. Earl Weaver spoke proudly of his run as manager of the Baltimore Orioles in the late 1960’s and through the 1970’s. He was especially proud that the team had won 90 games for many years in a row.
How to Bet on the Cubs
Until they show otherwise, the single factor you should look at is the opposing team’s starting pitcher. If he is the kind of guy who works to fool hitters rather than rely on overwhelming stuff and if he has a history of getting out of jams, the Cubs of today will lose to him.
This type of pitcher faces the Cubs in almost every series. Skip the other games if you wish to but bet against the Cubs to change their approach on offense.