3 Chicago Cubs to blame for slow start to season

1. Cubs catchers Yan Gomes and Tucker Barnhart deserve some blame for Chicago’s slow start

Let’s loop the two catchers together here, because the tandem of Yan Gomes and Tucker Barnhart amounts to one player. The Cubs actually have three catchers on the active roster at the moment if you include Luis Torrens.

There’s plenty of defense between the duo of Gomes and Barnhart. The latter won two Gold Gloves during his time with division rival Cincinnati, and Gomes is a well-regarded receiver.

But the North Siders have to get some sort of offense from the pair, don’t they? Sure, you might point to the fact that Barnhart is hitting .364, but he’s not drawing walks, and isn’t hitting for power. His slugging percentage, batting average, and on-base percentage are all the same.

Then you’ve got Gomes who couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat at the moment. The veteran backstop is 2-for-21 and has an OPS of just .238. Even the aforementioned, lesser-used Torrens has an OPS of .286.

Willson Contreras isn’t walking through that door, and while the defense is certainly an improvement, in today’s MLB, you can’t have a black hole in your lineup and expect to compete.