After May struggles, Cubs have tumbled to the bottom of the NL Central
May has not been kind to the Cubs, entering the month in third place with a 15-13 they will end the month 24-31 and in last place in the NL Central division.
With only four players hitting over .250 on the month, paired with mediocre pitching outside of Marcus Stroman and Justin Steele the Cubs have regressed into a team already looking towards next year.
Offseason addition shortstop Dansby Swanson and first baseman Trey Mancini have failed to make a major impact
Signed to a seven-year, $177M contract Swanson was a big splash for a team not expected to contend in 2023. His bat hasn't quite packed the punch they could have hoped for, with a .265/.362/.412 slash line to go with five home runs and 23 RBI.
The defense has still been outstanding though, a yearly contender for Gold Glove Swanson has already prevented four runs according to baseball savant which is good to be tied for third in the MLB.
2022 breakout star Steele has continued his strong play in 2023 with a 6-2 record and a 2.65 ERA, there is plenty of concern though after he was pulled from his start Wednesday due to tightness in his left forearm.
With an MRI planned for Thursday, losing Steele for any extended period of time would be a devastating blow to the Cubs' hopes to fight their way back into the playoff hunt.
Steele previously underwent Tommy John surgery back in 2017.
Not all has been bad in May, pitcher Marcus Stroman has continued his 2023 dominance posting a 3-2 record with a 2.87 ERA while holding batters to a .183 batting average.
Stroman, who has a $21M player option for next season, could opt out and be one of the premier free agents in the upcoming class if his strong play continues.
While the Cubs are not out of the playoff picture by any means, a poor month of May has set them back and they will have to reassess where they go from here.
A ton hinges on the health of Steele, if he can escape serious injury there might be a path to slip back into the fight but without him, it would be a major uphill battle.
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