Here are 5 stats that basically sums up how disastrous the Cubs' season has been so far

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Sooooo how'd everyone's weekend go?! Enjoying the return of baseball?! 

There's something about the Cubs' IMMEDIATE descent into panic-mode that I find deeply respectable. Picking up right where they left off, and all that. 

Things were bad in Texas, but things have been ugly in Atlanta. How bad? How ugly? Let's jump right in: 

1. 6.72

That's the Cubs' FIP through 33.1 innings. Only the 2-3 Diamondbacks and 1-4 Red Sox have had worse pitching through the first week. It's not just a shaky bullpen, either. The Cubs' rotation is currently wearing a 7.38 FIP in 18 innings pitched. The equivalent of two baseball games is by no means a reliable sample size, but it's not like the starters are passing the eye test either. What's more, only eight teams' rotations have logged less innings than the Cubs have so far. Lester went six innings on Opening Day, followed by the 2-inning Yu Darvish disaster, 5 okayish innings from Hamels and a 4-inning flop from Kyle Hendricks. Ironically enough, the most respectable pitching performance to date has probably been Jose Quintana's 4 innings of relief on Saturday. 

2. 7.50 

That's how many walks  Cubs pitchers are issuing per 9 innings. Only the Braves, winless until the Cubs came to town, are walking more. The starters are walking 17% of the batters they face. That wouldn't necessarily be the end of the world if they were also striking out a bunch of guys, but of course, they are not. In fact, they currently have as many walks as they do strikeouts (15). 

3. -1.38

That's the difference between Cubs starters' ERA (6.00) and their FIP (7.38). Essentially, this means that the Cubs' results have so far been better than the level of pitching would normally indicate. It is, in a word, bleak. Keeping sample size in mind is probably the most important thing you can do when trying to gauge takeaways from 4 games, and it's hard to say the Cubs should be that much worse than 1-3. Still, the first time through the rotation left more questions than it answered. 

4. .597

That's what right-handed hitters are slugging against Cubs' pitching. The only team worse against righties has been the Red Sox, and you can probably just say the Red Sox have been worse against everyone in general. Not to be outdone, lefties are slugging .542 against the Cubs, though that's only good for 4th-best in baseball. Chicago's tied for 3rd in baseball with nine homers allowed already, so this all sounds about right. 

5. 1

That's where the Cubs rank in batting average (.327) as of Tuesday afternoon. Batting average has limited value at best, but the Cubs' offense isn't a gimick. They rank 1st in OBP, 4th in SLG and wRC+, and 2nd in wOBA. They're 5th in total runs and 9th in homers, so it's not all bad. It's just mostly bad. 

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