Is this the most scientific way to figure out who the biggest Cubs disappointments of 2024 are? That’s for you to decide. I wanted to see if numbers matched the eye test, so I compared five Cubs player and their current numbers, which are live following Sunday’s loss against the Brewers, and tried to match them up through the same amount of plate appearances or innings pitched from last season.
Maybe there are other disappointing Cubs that are on your list, but here are my top five so far in 2024.
2023 (first 310 PA) .315/.368/.540, 141 wRC+, 15 HR
2024 (first 309 PA) .267/.327/.416, 109 wRC+, 9 HR
Cody Bellinger might be the perfect example of what’s wrong with the 2024 Cubs. Is he having an overall bad season? No, he’s been fine. Bellinger has above average numbers, but he’s the highest-paid player on the team and being just fine doesn’t cut it when he was brought back to be the superstar bat in the middle of the Cubs lineup.
A year ago Bellinger missed a month with a knee injury and when he returned the former MVP went on a rampage, lifting the Cubs to a playoff push following an incredible month of July. He hasn’t come close to being that star presence in 2024 and after missing a couple weeks with a rib fracture, Bellinger has come back to the lineup with almost no power.
Bellinger has only homered two times since May 11, and as of late it’s been a struggle for him to hit any ball with authority.
All his numbers are down from where they were last season and while Bellinger does some things to still provide value, the Cubs need slug from him and that’s been non-existent for the past two months.
2023 (first 346 PA) .247/.313/.481, 113 wRC+, 19 HR
2024 (first 345 PA) .198/.307/.375, 96 wRC+, 15 HR
After last week’s series against the Mets I thought, OK, here we go, Morel is about to go off. But, well, just like the rest of his season the Cubs third baseman couldn’t get on an extended hot streak, ending the week of games without an extra base hit.
Morel might be the most frustrating player for the Cubs this season because it’s not like he hasn’t improved in some areas. He’s not the free-swinger that we saw in his first couple seasons, as Morel’s plate discipline has gotten better. The swing decisions have improved and Morel has not only dropped his strikeout rate down to 22%, but he’s also at an 11.9 BB%, which ranks 20th among all MLB qualified hitters.
But the power is way down. Morel does have 15 homers, but his .375 slugging % is 113th out of 144 players with enough plate appearances to qualify for the leaderboard. Morel ended the month of June with 5 home runs and 1 double and has pretty much been hovering at or below league average production the entire season.
2023 (first 288 PA) .257/.347/.395, 106 wRC+, 6 HR
2024 (first 287 PA) .217/.293/.364, 88 wRC+, 8 HR
So, with a guy like Dansby Swanson, expectations do matter. I’m more disappointed in Morel’s offensive season so far even though he’s produced more than Swanson because I expect more offense out of him. Regardless, Swanson has definitely been underperforming and for all the talk about his leadership and willingness to put pressure on the front office, he’s been putrid to watch for most of the 2024 season.
Swanson has been better as of late, but even the improved results can’t help cover up how awful he was to begin the year. We all knew that Swanson wasn’t going to be the best and probably not even the second best bat when the Cubs signed him, but the expectations were simple. Hit 20-25 home runs, stay above a 100 wRC+ and play gold glove defense. Swanson did that last year and fans were hopeful that he’d at least put up similar production, but he’s fallen short of those expectations in 2024.
The thing is, he hasn’t only been bad, the Cubs big free agent is one of the worst hitters at his position. Swanson’s current 88 wRC+ ranks fourth worst among 22 qualified shortstops in baseball heading into July.
2023 (156 PA) .214/.329/.359, 94 wRC+, 5 HR
2024 (first 187 PA) .189/.253/.260, 49 wRC+, 2 HR
Development sure isn’t linear huh? Man, I really thought Miguel Amaya was going to be the guy. No, not like a superstar catcher, but the type of defensive guy the Cubs want behind the plate, who could also produce something on offense and not be an automatic out. Basically what Amaya showed in a backup role last year.
Well, after an encouraging rookie season Amaya has declined in every facet so far in 2024 and he might just be the saddest disappointment of the year.
2023 (first 30 IP) 1.20 ERA, 3.52 FIP, 4.25 xFIP, 33 K, 15 BB, 2 HR
2024 (first 29.2 IP) 4.25 ERA, 5.21 FIP, 4.87 xFIP, 30 K, 22 BB, 4 HR
I mean, at least Adbert Alzolay has the injury excuse, but Hector Neris was the big free agent pickup for the bullpen this past offseason and he’s been a disaster on the mound. When the Cubs needed the veteran to step into the closer role Neris did a fine job getting out of his own messes, but soon those became too big to overcome.
He simply has not improved through June and unfortunately for the Cubs Neris’ good luck has seemingly run out. Neris walks too many guys, throws too many uncompetitive pitches and when he’s forced into the strike zone hitters have been all over him.
No lead is safe for the Cubs when Neris comes in to pitch for the Cubs.
