Cubs displaying a Jekyll and Hyde offense to start 2018, but it's more complicated than that

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MIAMI — It took all of four days into the 2018 MLB season for Anthony Rizzo to drop his classic "that's baseball" line.

Except this isn't just an overused trope by a guy that's interviewed after nearly every game.

Rizzo's right: This is the way baseball goes sometimes.

The Cubs had 8 hits, only struck out 6 times and still wound up getting shut out against Dillon Peters (who?), Drew Steckenrider (huh?) and Tayron Gurrero (seriously..who?) Sunday in Miami.

Things were so wacky, the Cubs actually had 10 batted balls hit at least 96.8 mph off the bat which went for outs, including 6 with an exit velocity of at least 100 mph. 

By contrast, the Cubs' hits averaged just 87.2 mph off the bat.

"Quite frankly, we could not have hit the ball better than we did," Joe Maddon said after the game. "That's the most incredible shutout I've seen in my life. Give their defense a lot of credit — they covered a lot of ground in the outfield and they made some plays in the infield.

"For zero points, you cannot hit the ball any better than we hit today. That might've been the best hit shutout I've ever seen."

The Cubs didn't help themselves, however, as they were only 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position Sunday, including a situation where Javy Baez misread a sign and tried to bunt to squeeze Kyle Schwarber home from third base, only for the Cubs left fielder to get thrown out in a rundown.

On several other instances — including twice in the first inning — Cubs players hit the ball on the nose, just right at somebody.

"Our at-bats were really good today, in my opinion," Rizzo said. "Hit the ball really well, it just didn't fall. That's the way it goes."

Even despite the bad luck — and there was plenty throughout the weekend beyond just Sunday — the Cubs offense still failed to execute to the level they're hoping for.

The runs tell a Jekyll and Hyde story, with 18 runs scored in the two victories while the Cubs could push across just one tally in 26 innings of baseball in their two losses to the Marlins.

However, the Cubs issues with runners on base permeated throughout the weekend. They hit just .149 (7-for-47) with runners in scoring position and left 42 men on base in the four games.

Part of the problem — as Maddon said — is a matter of trying to do too much.

"It's almost like some of them are trying WAY too hard," Maddon said even after his team scored 10 runs in a win Saturday. "Let's back it off a little bit, see the ball, don't try to do too much, get back to the whole field. 

"We're getting too pull-conscious too early and that's gonna go away, but anybody that is struggling right now is really just playing with the small part of the field and we gotta get back to the big part in the middle and through the opposite gap."

Maddon went on to describe more in detail about what he wants to see from Cubs hitters: Letting the ball travel and letting the speed of the pitch dictate where the ball goes. Instead of trying to pull a fastball, let it fly in the middle of the field and to the opposite field.

Strikeouts will always be an issue with this team — "the strikeouts are part of our DNA," Maddon said — though they only whiffed 6 times Sunday.

The Cubs also had favorable hitting conditions in Miami in terms of temperature. They didn't have to don a bunch of layers and play in 40s with a windchill in the 30s. 

Yes, wind was a factor and a surprising one given the ball didn't carry the way the Cubs thought. Rizzo, Schwarber and Ben Zobrist each may have another homer on their resumes if not for the wind killing the ball in center/left-center at Marlins Park.

The Cubs have also been robbed, with Lewis Brinson tracking down everything in center field and Cameron Maybin robbing Baez in the second inning Sunday with a spectacular diving catch.

At the end of the day, it's just four games and it happened to be a few unlucky ones for the Cubs overall.

But at least they're headed to Cincinnati with their health.

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