CUBS half-way home....or are they?

Here's a first half evaluation of the CHICAGO CUBS.

The north side boys started off like a ball of fire and absolutely dominated the month of april, winning every series but one and sweeping the reds, angels and brewers on the way to posting a 17-5 record for the month. JAKE ARRIETA, JON LESTER and JOHN LACKEY were a combined 10-2 with the rest of the hall of fame pitching staff being basically untouchable.

THE greatest team since the 1927 yankees continued to roll with an 18-10 record for the month and their overall record swelled to 35-15, two better than the aforementioned NYY.
JUST how good are they??? 

when the lights went off on may 31, arrieta was 9-0, lackey was 5-2, lester 5-3, JASON HAMMEL was 6-1 and even TRAVIS WOOD was 3-0. the only two questions remaining for THE KINGS OF SPRING regarded their bullpen which had been rarely tested and the team's terrible record of just 2-13 when they score three runs or less. for their sake, i hope they keep hitting. 

ah, june. summer arrives along with warm weather and the cubbies pounce with an opening four game winning streak to run their record to 39-15. LET THE CELEBRATING BEGIN! the bars are full every night in wrigleyville, the price of cocaine is down and the local residents from boys town are dancing in the streets wearing their multi-colored hotpants and even exercise guru RICHARD SIMMONS declares he's a cub fan. 

merchandise flies off the shelves and everyone swears they're been a cub fan their entire lives and supported them every year.  but most can't name more than five on the current roster and have never been to a gaame. and then on June 5th, a cold wind began to blow down clark street.......and it brought with it the infamous JUNE SWOON.

the cubs played 24 games after june 4th and played just .500 baseball at 12-12.  arrieta finally lost his first game, then another, and got shelled by both the cardinals and the reds towards the end of the month. lester was good but hammel lost one, then another and yet another before lackey lost his last two starts.  no problem, we're 51-27 after three months and 14 games up on the division. just a hiccup. right? right?

 btw, the north siders go 1-10 in low scoring games for a three month total of 3-23 when they score less than 3 runs. relief pitchers. big deal, we just need to keep hitting.

hey, it's JULY! let's play some cubs baseball and get back on track. how about it?  ahhhhhhhh, no. 

the KINGS OF SPRING continue to melt under the summer sun and lose all three series leading up to the all-star break plus a makeup to the worst team in baseball, the atlanta braves for a grand total of 2-8 and their lead shrinks from 14 games to 7, along with going 0-5 in low scoring games for a season total of 3-28. the cubs average about 4 runs a game during this stretch, down from 6.5 earlier in the season.

lester gets blown up in his two july starts and arrieta also loses two more. NOTE: arrieta looks like he's hurting when he throws. don't be surprised if he makes a trip to the DL.

bottom line? the cubs WILL WIN the division easily because the pirates have no pitching and the cardinals lead the league in players on the DL so the cubs are home free.

so you look to the post season with a terrible bullpen and the top two starters coming back to earth. still dancing in the streets, cub fans?  i think not.

and now on to the second half!   later.