2023 Season Recap

The rollercoaster has come to a stop and I’m exiting the ride with wounds, tears, and vomit on my shirt from a very unstable and unsafe attraction. The Cubs played their final game 13 days ago and I'm just now ready to talk about it. Over the course of the last 20ish days I successfully went through all 5 stages of grief and I'm a better man because of it. Let's discuss how we got here...

1) Denial – After sweeping the Giants, the Cubs went into a series with the Diamondbacks with a 90% chance to make the playoffs. Things were looking up and I was planning my playoff schedule moving around trips to be in Chicago. They then proceeded to drop 3 of 4 against the D-backs, 2 of 3 against Colorado, and then completed the horrible road trip with a 3 game sweep by the Diamondbacks. They came back home and lost a series to the Pirates and were now on life support. However, they ended the 2023 Wrigley campaign with a sweep against the Rockies. Entering the final 6 games they controlled their own destiny. This is where denial comes in. After each painful late-inning loss against the Braves to start the week, I started doing the math and playing out wild scenarios and every time I crunched the numbers, the Cubs were playoff bound. There was no way it wasn’t going to happen. There was no way the Braves and the Brewers were going to play all their starters. No way the Marlins would continue to win. Well turns out, there was a way…

2) Anger – I went to Milwaukee on Friday for the first game of the final series with hope. Still living in the stage of Denial tracking the various games on my phone as the Cubs “battled” it out with the Brewers. But as the game came to a close, the anger stage hit me. I began to rage tweet about the awful stadium experience, insulted the fine people of Wisconsin about their awful state with nothing to do but consume fried food and spotted cow, and shut down emotionally. I wanted nothing more than to drive my fist through Bernie’s fat face and watch as his mustache turned from mustard yellow to ketchup red.

3) Bargaining – I then began to play the “what if” game questioning every managerial decision that David Ross made. Questioning the moves at the deadline and those painful 1-run losses throughout the season. What if David Ross didn’t tell Madrigal to sac bunt against the Nationals back in May? What if Alzolay never got injured and we had a legit closer down the stretch? Was it my fault for writing a blog about the playoff percentage only to see Yodeling Walter fall off the cliff immediately after I posted it? Who can we blame?

4) Depression – Then came depression. I sat at the dinner table at a wedding Saturday night with a few vodka sprites in my system wanting to cry after seeing the final “Eliminated” graphic come across my timeline. I laid on my couch watching redzone Sunday instead of the final Cubs game of the season (the only game I didn’t watch) because I didn’t want to see the logo on the screen. It was over and there was nothing we could do about it.

5) Acceptance – So here we are. I’ve finally accepted that the season is over but there’s plenty to look back at and be happy about. It’s hard to not think about the implosion and utter failure that occurred over the last 3 weeks of the season but it’s important to think about all of the good times that we had together.

Season Bright Spots

Cody Bellinger

Not much needs to be said here. The Cody Bellinger signing was absolutely massive. Not only did he put up MVP numbers at the plate but he also played gold glove quality center field and slotted into a much needed role at 1st base down the stretch. Across the entire MLB he finished:

-6th in AVG.

-9th in SLG.

-22nd in RBIs.

It goes without saying but keeping him in Chicago needs to be top priority heading into the offseason. With no clear answer at 1st base and PCA still not MLB ready, we NEED a guy like Cody in the locker room.

The Middle Infield

The shortstop sweepstakes last offseason ended with the Cubs landing Dansby Swanson who many people thought was the consolation prize after not being able to sign Turner, Correa, and Boegarts. While Dansby struggled a bit in the 2nd half of the season, he proved to be the best overall in the shortstop class taking into account his world class defense. He finished 4th in DWAR across the entire MLB while Nico finished 15th making this combo the best defensive middle infield in baseball. Amongst 2nd baseman, Nico finished 2nd in AVG, 6th in OBP, 1st in SB (43), 2nd in Runs. With the new rule changes, having an A+ defensive middle infield is going to continue to be extremely important...and it doesn't hurt that they produce at the plate.

2nd Half Seiya Suzuki

We finally got to see what a healthy Seiya can do in the 2nd half of the season. In the month of September, Seiya finished top 5 in RBIs, AVG, SLG, and hits. He was on fire the last few months of the season which should be a sign to come for next season. I still think he's yet to fully showcase his power but his oblique injury could be a contributor to that. A fully healthy Seiya next year could be a BIG problem.

Justin Steele

An obvious bright spot of the season, Justin Steele made his Cy Young debate deep into the season. A homegrown talent, Steele threw 2 pitches, a fastball (62.6%) and a slider (33.9%) to just induce soft contact and occasionally mow down hitters throughout the season. He was top 3 in ERA most of the season under a few rough outings coming in September that sealed the Cy Young fate. Even with that, he finished 6th in ERA and 6th in K/BB.

Young Talent

The cubs young talent peaked through in flashes this season. On the pitching front, Jordan Wicks came up in late August going 4-1 with a 4.4 ERA while Adbert Alzolay proved to be an electric and reliable closer. As for hitters, there's reason to be excited about guys like Miguel Amaya, PCA (although he didn't record a hit in 2023), Alexander Canario, and Christopher Morel. It's truly just the beginning for what the Cubs farm system has to offer.

The "Let's Forget They Were On The Team" Section

Pre-Season Predictions

Prediction: Matt Mervis will mash 20 bombs in his rookie season

Actual: ❌ Mervis hit 3 home runs and looked over matched at the plate in his short stint up

Prediction: Jordan Wicks will be cemented in the starting rotation by August

Actual: ✅

Prediction: Seiya and Nico will be all-stars

Actual: ❌

Prediction: Cody Bellinger will return to 2019 form

Actual: ✅

Prediction: The Scott Effross for Hayden Wesneski trade is going to go down as one of the all time greats. Jake Arrieta level great

Actual: ❌ This was quite the let down

Prediction: There will be a new Wrigley trend this year taking over the cup snake trend. Maybe something with those new beer bats.

Actual: ❌ No trend overtook the cup snake this year

Prediction: 85-88 wins

Actual: We were so close. The cubs finished with 83 wins but should've hit the high end of this prediction.

I went into the season hopeful but uncertain as to what to expect. A lot of new faces, young players, and question marks all around. While emotionally drained, I'm exiting the season extremely optimistic about the future of this team. I understood the strategy around the team, I can see the bright young talent emerging, and I believe this team proved there's enough talent currently under contract to go out and spend in free agency. There's truly nothing like late season meaningful baseball. Wrigley field packed on a Tuesday night in September while the team chases down a division title is special. It's like a drug. And I had a taste of the drug in 2023 but I'm ready to overdose on it (metaphorically, overdosing isn't funny and drugs are bad) in 2024.

90 Days until Cubs Con...