It\u2019s easier being a Cubs starting pitcher these days.<\/p>\n
With the team\u2019s lineup scoring runs at a best-in-baseball rate, the team\u2019s collection of arms can breathe a little easier than normal, even when going up against some of the best bats in the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes your life a little bit less stressful when you give up a run in the top of the first and then you score five in the bottom of the first,\u201d Cubs right-hander Ben Brown told the Sun-Times on Friday. \u201cWhat our offense is doing, it\u2019s been incredible. It\u2019s made it a lot easier for starting pitchers to get comfortable, and it gives us a little room for error.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to win ballgames, not to throw shutouts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, the Cubs\u2019 starting staff has not been perfect. This week against the Dodgers, Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd gave up 11 runs, though only five were earned. Still, the Cubs won both games, the starting pitching doing a good enough job of keeping this high-octane offense within striking distance.<\/p>\n
Perfect or not, the rotation has been quite good through the season\u2019s first month, entering Friday with a 3.50 starters\u2019 ERA, which ranked sixth in baseball.<\/p>\n
Individually, Brown has improved since a rocky beginning to the season, with just one run allowed in his last two starts, lowering his ERA from 7.71 to 4.57.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like, \u2018Hey, your job is go out there, fill up the zone and get outs and keep us in the ballgame,\u2019\u201d Brown said. \u201cHaving that mindset, it\u2019s really what you should be doing even if your team\u2019s not scoring. But really being able to embrace that right now, it\u2019s making us better pitchers, the whole staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re so team-oriented with how we\u2019re competing. It\u2019s like, \u2018If we give our team a chance to win, we\u2019re probably going to win. If we can hold them to four or less, five or less, we\u2019re hitting the ball real well, so we\u2019re giving our team a chance to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the Cubs have won, with a 16-10 record that has them atop the NL Central.<\/p>\n
Even the best offenses can be streaky, though, ebbing and flowing throughout the course of a season. The Cubs will need their starting staff to remain effective should the bats cool down.<\/p>\n
That challenge remains a big one with Justin Steele sidelined for the remainder of the season after undergoing elbow surgery.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll never be able to replace what Justin can do. He\u2019s one of the best pitchers in baseball, and the way he competes is like no other,\u201d Brown said. \u201cBut what we can do is take a little bit of that with us.<\/p>\n
\u201cJustin\u2019s an uber competitor. There\u2019s no excuse for us to not go out there and pitch like we\u2019ve got our backs against the wall. That\u2019s what Justin does. Every time he goes out there, he\u2019s going to put his best effort forward, and we\u2019re going to try to do the same thing. We\u2019re all going to come together and try to make up for those innings that we don\u2019t have from Justin this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Things are getting potentially more problematic, too. Javier Assad, who might have been counted on as a valuable reinforcement, left a recent rehab start with a reaggravation of the strained oblique that had him on the IL in the first place. Manager Craig Counsell said Friday there\u2019s no timeline for Assad\u2019s return.<\/p>\n
Combine the unknown of Assad with the known of Steele, and the Cubs could use some help on the starting-pitching front, certainly something Jed Hoyer\u2019s front office will be looking for come the trade deadline.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, though, Brown and the rest of the rotation are happy to reap the rewards of their teammates\u2019 hot bats and help shoulder the Steele-less load themselves. In the face of injuries, whatever can help make things easier on the starting staff is an important thing for these Cubs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fun to be on a winning ball team in the big leagues,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIt\u2019s a blast.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Things are less stressful for the rotation these days with the Cubs’ lineup scoring at a best-in-baseball rate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":50919,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n