The Chicago Cubs are in the final week of the 2021 regular season with just four games left on the schedule. Even though the end of the 2021 season will officially close the end of an era of Cubs baseball, most of that work was done weeks ago.
It’s been an abysmal final few months for the Cubbies, and they are once against starting to fall back into the “Lovable Losers” category. There are some fun and intriguing players on this team, but those players aren’t good enough to win games on a consistent basis.
Looking to the Future
The Cubs have began this week by going 1-1 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the team would actually do more good by losing out. Losing games means a better draft pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, and that has to be priority number 1 for the organization.
Even though there are four games left to play, a number of “regular” players won’t be suiting up the rest of the way. The Cubs announced that both Keegan Thompson and Jason Heyward were among the group that has had their seasons cut short.
Thompson has had an up and down year with the Cubs, but he is expected to be a major part of the future plans in Chicago. It’s been an abysmal season for Heyward for a variety of reasons, and there is a chance that he nevers plays another game for the Cubs.
The Cubs are going to be giving younger players a chance to play over the final four games, and that includes Trent Giambrone. Giambrone has been in the Cubs system since 2016, and he finally got the call on Wednesday to join the big league club.
To his credit, Giambrone made the most of his opportunity, delivering a pinch hit in his first at-bat in the Major Leagues.
Wisdom Ends Remarkable Year
Patrick Wisdom is likely going to fall just short in his quest to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award, but it was still a remarkable run. The Cubs placed Wisdom on the IL without an injury distinction, likely meaning that he is dealing with some COVID-19 issues.
Wisdom belted 28 home runs this season to set a new Cubs rookie record. The previous record was set by Kris Bryant, and he followed that up by winning the MVP the following season.
What makes the feat even more impressive for Wisdom is that he was able to blast 28 home runs in just 338 at-bats. He becomes just the 9th player in baseball history to hit at least 28 home runs with that few of at-bats, leaving many Cubs fans to question how much he can produce in a full season.
While the HR total was great, Wisdom also hit just .231 and has a tendency to strikeout way too much. If Wisdom is going to be an everyday player for the Cubs in 2022 and beyond then he will have to find a way to cut down on the strikeouts while still keeping his power.
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