2020 Wasn’t The Year
The Chicago Cubs fall short in 2020 with the Miami Marlins sweeping in the Wild Card series. The entire regular season, it was evident that the Cubs would make the playoffs. Players such as Ian Happ, Kyle Hendricks and Yu Darvish were the catalysts for this team. However, players such as Kris Bryant and Javier Baez never really found their stride. When playoffs came, these were guys that needed to hit in order the Cubs to gain momentum but they couldn’t and it showed in game one. The Marlins pitching held the Cubs to one run while Hendricks and Jeremy Jeffress got hit around in the late innings. The Marlins beat the Cubs, 5-1.
Game 2, Win or End of An Era
Yu Darvish on the mound, one of the games best pitchers this season, and the Cubs relying on him to make it to game three. Darvish started off great and was working out of tough situations through at least six innings. Cubs were also getting hits which was a big step up compared to game one. However, a bad running decision from Wilson Contreras and the inability to produce runs with guys on base caused the Cubs to get shutout. The Marlins sweep, 2-0.
What’s Next For Epstein and The Cubs
Baez, Rizzo and Bryant are set to become unrestricted free agents in 2022 which means the Cubs will look forward to having them back for one more year possibly. However, Theo Epstein might choose to go somewhere else this offseason even though he has one more year left on his contract. He’s responsible for taking the Cubs from a losing team to World Series contenders every year since 2015. Epstein has been a great leader for the team and has helped create this Cubs dynasty which will never be forgotten. The Cubs have a lot of work to do this offseason and might even comeback looking completely different next season.