CHICAGO – As a franchise, the team is currently sitting in a bit of limbo.
The Cubs have been hesitant to say they’re rebuilding for the past year despite trading away their core at the 2021 trade deadline and making only one major splash in free agency this offseason. That’s why many fans aren’t buying the idea that they are “retooling” in order to make a run toward a championship sooner than later.
After all, the team is going into their five-game series with the Cardinals that starts Thursday at Wrigley Field with a 21-29 record, sitting ten games in back of the Brewers for first place in the National League Central.
While that has caused plenty of frustration among Cubs’ fans, there is one player who has brought some joy to the fanbase over the last few weeks not only with his play but also his enthusiasm.
Christopher Morel homered in his first major league at-bat on May 17th against the Pirates at Wrigley Field and the good times have kept coming for the infielder ever since. He’s reached base in his first 15 games at the MLB level, which is a franchise record, and his 11-game hitting streak that just came to an end on Wednesday night was the longest of the season for the team.
That didn’t keep him down, however, as he still drew a walk and scored a run to keep his on-base streak alive, and then in the tenth inning he delivered another first. In the tenth inning with a runner on third, Morel hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to give the Cubs a 4-3 win over Milwaukee to finish the series with a 2-2 split.
Along with those achievements, Morel leads the Cubs in steals with six so far in the last few weeks.
Larry Hawley featured Morel’s great start to the season in this week’s “Stats to Look at” on WGN News Now, and you can watch that in the video above.
