Not only did the Chicago Cubs drop Game 1 of the Wild Card series to the San Diego Padres, but they wiped 8-0. They didn't record a hit until the seventh inning and allowed a run before even recording an out. Just about everything that could've gone wrong did for Chicago, and now, their season is on the brink.
One more loss would embarrassingly send Chicago home for the winter. For them to avoid such an fate, they'll need to right these Game 1 wrongs immediately.
Cubs need more out of their superstar position players
The postseason is a time for superstars to shine. We saw the Padres get the most out of their elite players on Tuesday night, while the Cubs' stars were nowhere to be found. Pete Crow-Armstrong, the NL MVP favorite, went 0-for-3 with a walk and three strikeouts. Alex Bregman, who led the Majors with a 176 second-half wRC+, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. That's 0-for-7 with six strikeouts and one walk for those keeping score.
At the end of the day, the Cubs are going to go where guys like PCA and Bregman take them. If they're postseason no-shows, getting past the Padres, let alone going on a run to the Fall Classic, feels like an impossible feat. Those two must contribute in Game 2.
Cubs need to figure out how to slow Padres stars down
Not only did the Cubs' stars no-show, but the Padres' stars made their presence felt across the field on Tuesday. Michael King led the way, throwing seven innings of one-hit ball with nine strikeouts for one of the best starts of his career. And as good as King was, he was far from the only big name to show up.
Fernando Tatis Jr. led off the game for San Diego with a home run, setting the tone. He went 2-for-3 with a walk overall, scoring three runs and wreaking all kinds of havoc on the base paths. Manny Machado went 2-for-3 with a walk as well, going deep, scoring twice and driving in a pair of runs. Ty France, Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts all had multi-hit games, with Bogaerts hitting a home run. It goes without saying that all of these guys showing up would make it hard for the Cubs to win this series.
Cubs need more out of their starting pitching
The Cubs' starting rotation isn't elite, but it stacks up fairly evenly on paper to that of the Padres. You wouldn't have known that based on how Game 1 transpired, though, as King dominated, while Chicago's' starter, Matthew Boyd, looked overmatched. Boyd allowed four runs on five hits in four innings in Tuesday's loss.
Yes, the Cubs offense no-showed, but Boyd allowing four runs in four innings simply wasn't good enough to keep his team in the game. Even if Chicago scored some runs, it'd have been tough for them to keep pace given Boyd's struggles. Kevin Gausman takes the ball in Game 2, and if the Cubs are going to stave off elimination, he'll need to give his big bats more of a chance to wake up.
Elite Cubs lineup should never be shut out
As bad as the starting pitching was in this game, the story of the night was the Cubs getting nothing going offensively. King deserves a ton of credit for that, obviously, but the Cubs led the majors in runs scored in the regular season. PCA and Bregman are the stars, but this lineup includes the likes of Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner as well.
In other words, they should never be shut out. They were held scoreless just 14 times in 162 regular-season games. For reference, they scored 10 or more times 21 times. It's more often for this Cubs lineup to explode rather than to get shut out. For them to win, they'll need to hit. That couldn't be clearer.
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