No way we make the playoffs. Over half way done and they haven't improved at all. Same shit every game. Shitty pitching and no offense.
Maybe we can just hope to be like the Giants and win every even number year. Odd years are for the AL.
I mean you can believe what you want but the team isn't *that* bad. They are 17th in runs scored and 9th in runs against. We can debate the merits of them actually improving but to sit here today and say they can't is a bit silly. They almost certainly need another starter but we've known that for awhile. And their offense needs far more consistency but I think part of that is the fact they rarely have had their opening day line up out there.
This team certainly isn't going to be as good as the 2016 team. However the 2015 team that won 97 games was only 5 up headed into july and only 7 up on july 6th. The 2017 team is 1 down. So, even if they only play as well as the 2015 team in the second half you're still talking about 88-90ish wins. That may not occur but to sit here and say they are absolutely done is silly. They are 4.5 back with the ammo to add a player(s) at the deadline. And obviously they should have all the bats they need. Fowler and ross are all that's missing from the 2016 team and for what it's worth, Happ/Jay/Almora have done admirably filling in CF. Their bullpen is dramatically better than 2016 especially if they can move Montgomery back to the pen presumably after a starter gets dealt to them.
Ultimately I think the hitting comes around. There's just too much talent out there to hit this inconsistent. My only real question is where's the pitching going to come from? Right now neither Arrieta nor Lester are really pitching like that game 1 starter you would want in the playoffs. Hendricks prior to the DL wasn't really either though he was showing some signs of improvement. And Lackey may just be done. They really need to trade for someone who you can just go out there and ride to a win but I'm not sure that player is out there. Even Gray looks more in that Lester/Arrieta type range.
I'm honestly sort of glad Davis is the only cub who made the all star game. That will give most of the team a few days to just sit down and come back fresh. This isn't the first time we have seen something like that either. People likely forget now but 2015 Fowler was a .232/.308/.369 hitter in the 1st half. He hit .272/.389/.463 in the second half. And there's certainly other examples of this in the past couple of years.