What Craig Counsell must change to save this Cubs season

Every time the Chicago Cubs seem to have found rock bottom, they find a way to somehow dig this hole a little bit deeper. A slumping offense was once again invisible on Monday, a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates that marked Chicago's ninth defeat in a row. They've averaged less than three runs per game over that span, and they've now fallen five games back in the loss column of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central. Oh, and did we mention they're scheduled to face Paul Skenes next?

At this point, manager Craig Counsell seems like he's just about at his wit's end. He's started pushing just about every lever a manager can push — Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner and Seiya Suzuki are among the established veterans who have been given days off recently — but nothing has been able to snap this team out of its funk. But if he doesn't figure thigns out soon, he might well be the one on the chopping block, so here are a few more suggestions.

Leave Pete Crow-Armstrong in the leadoff spot

With Hoerner struggling mightily at the plate of late, Counsell has pushed PCA into the No. 1 spot in the lineup card in each of Chicago's last three games. He has just one hit over that span, but he's worked three walks, and the poor top-line numbers mask some encouraging results under the hood: Crow-Armstrong put up three different batted balls with exit velocities over 100 mph on Monday.

The plate approach has been much better of late, and it's only a matter of time before the box score starts to better reflect how PCA is looking as a hitter right now. He's one of very, very few Cubs bats who appear to be swinging with any confidence at the moment, and his dynamism at the plate and on the bases can provide the sort of spark Chicago desperately needs right now. Of course, he's been prone to streakiness of his own, and his on-base skills aren't exactly what you want out of a leadoff guy, but Counsell needs to be getting him as many plate appearances as possible right now.

Give Alex Bregman a rest day next

One name we didn't mention among the cavalcade of struggling hitters above? Bregman, who continues to play every day despite slugging a measly .346 on the season. The plate approach and contact skills are still there; Bregman remains very difficult to strike out, and he remains more than willing to work a walk. But right now, this Cubs offense needs more upside than he seems capable of providing at this point in his career, as his 11 extra-base hits this year attest.

This is a bit easier said than done right now given that Matt Shaw just landed on the IL. But the Cubs just called up one of their top prospects, infielder Pedro Ramirez, who's looked perfectly ready for regular playing time in the bottom third of Chicago's order. Bregman simply isn't good enough right now, and the Cubs are running out of time for their prize free-agent acquisition to find his stroke — if it even still exists at all.

Fire Dustin Kelly

Maybe we're burying the lede here. Because the one common denominator with the Cubs' ice-cold offense — not even just this year, but in years past — has been Kelly, who's served as the team's hitting coach since 2023.

Chicago has fielded top-10 offenses by wRC+ in two of his three full seasons in that role. But ask any fan who's actually lived through those years, and they'll tell you that the overall numbers mask some crippling slumps that always seem to pop up at the least opportune times. It happened during the dog days of last summer and cost the Cubs the NL Central. Now it's sprung up again, and once again Kelly doesn't seem to have an answer.

Would Chicago merely be making him a scapegoat? It's possible; he can't actually take at-bats himself, after all, and at this point most established MLB hitters have private hitting coaches anyway. But something has to change, and what exactly has Kelly done to earn the benefit of the doubt?

Get more comfortable with tough love

At the risk of engaging in armchair psychology, it sure seems like the losses are taking their toll on Counsell. Just look at how dejected he was after Monday's loss in Pittsburgh, when he looked like someone had just shot his dog while declaring "we've gotta play better".

On the one hand, what do you want him to say? He's watching the same baseball everyone else is, and it's not like stamping his feet will help an experienced veteran like Dansby Swanson wake up. On the other, though, how is this sort of attitude meant to inspire any sort of confidence or light any sort of fire at all? If I were a Cub watching this in the clubhouse, I'd see a manager who doesn't believe in our team and who is about ready to let go of the rope.

Again, there's only so much a manager can actually do to affect what happens on the field. And lord knows these are mature professionals, adults with mortgages and families, who probably won't respond well to be lit up in the media. But at this point, what does Counsell have to lose? Maybe being a little more fiery will, well, help light some sort of a fire.

More Kevin Alcantara, less Ian Happ

Happ got a day off to "reset" (Counsell's words), but he was right back in the lineup on Monday, going hitless with a walk in four plate appearances while hitting second. He's now hitting just .181 for the month of May, and while he'll always run solid OBPs due to his patience at the plate, he's not making nearly enough contact right now to merit such a high placement in the batting order.

Especially when Chicago just called Alcantara, its top outfield prospect, back up to the Majors. He's gotten exactly one plate appearance since, and while that can easily be explained away by the fact that the Cubs have yet to face a lefty starter — and Alcantara struggled against righties in his last taste of MLB action — isn't it time to let him sink or swim? He's made real strides in his plate approach and K rate, and again, it's not like Happ is making a compelling case for playing time. Especially with Happ and Suzuki both hitting free agency this winter, the Cubs need to see what they have here so they can plan accordingly.

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