Chicago Cubs rumors: Christopher Morel and the DH, trade talk, record oddities

Cubs rumors: What if the wins and losses could be better?

As mentioned, Chicago will take an 18-19 mark into Minnesota on Friday night. However, taking a look at Chicago’s Pythagorean won-lost record, the Cubs should actually be 24-13.

You can read up on what the Pythagorean system means here, but part of the definition reads, “Pythagorean winning percentage is a formula developed by renowned statistician Bill James. The concept strives to determine the number of games that a team *should* have won — based its total number of runs scored versus its number of runs allowed — in an effort to better forecast that team’s future outlook.”

So take six losses away from the Cubs and put them in the win column, and 2023 is looking like a very solid season. Under that system, the Cubs would be sitting on top of the division as Pittsburgh would be 20-18, Milwaukee would be 20-17, Cincinnati would be 15-21 and St. Louis would be 17-21. Interestingly, both St. Louis and Chicago are the two teams most impacted by the Pythagorean system, with both teams, according to the math, falling shorter than they should have (the Cardinals should have four more wins).

While St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol has been under fire plenty early this season, is David Ross pushing the right buttons enough in Chicago as well? Some would argue this system points to the Cubs not flying the W flag as much as they should be in 2023.