Time For The Chicago Cubs To Fire David Ross As Manager

By Jordan Long

The Chicago Cubs had one of their worst series of the year this past weekend against the New York Yankees.  The Cubs were outscored 5 to 28 and were swept.  It is time for the Cubs to move on from Manager David Ross.

                Ross became the Cubs’ Manager on October 24^th, 2019.  Ross didn’t have managerial experience.  The only baseball knowledge he had was as a catcher.  His career lasted from 2002 to 2016, playing for the Atlanta Braves, L.A. Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox,  Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, and Pittsburgh Pirates.  During his playing days, Ross won 2 World Series, 2013 with Boston and 2016 with the Cubs.  Chicago brought him in because he was a familiar name from his time with the organization. 

                Ross’ first year was the COVID shortened year.  Chicago won the National League Central Division with a 34-26 record.  They were swept by the Miami Marlins in the Wild Card Series which was a best of 3.  Last year, the Cubs ended at 71-91, 24 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the Division.

                This season, expectations were rather low.  Chicago didn’t do much in the offseason.  The Cubs didn’t expect to be in contention to win the Division, but still Chicago hasn’t played great baseball under Ross.  Going into tonight’s game against the San Diego Padres, the Cubs are 23-36, 10 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for first place in the National League Central Division.

                This seems to be a lost year for the Cubs.  It’s time for the Cubs to send a message and fire Ross as manager.  He has proven he can’t handle the duties.  The Cubs aren’t bad hitting as a team with a .242 batting average, 15^th in MLB.  When it comes to home runs, they have smacked 59, 16^th in MLB.

                The one area they haven’t improved on is strikeouts.  Batters take too many chances swinging at pitches outside the zone.  Those end up with them being struck out at the plate with a total of 515, 20^th in MLB.

                Pitching wise, they aren’t getting the job done.  Their total team ERA is 4.59, 26^th  in baseball. When it comes to their starters, they give up runs.  Ross waits too long to remove a starter from the game.  By the time he chooses to, the game is out of hand.  The starting ERA is 4.97.  They have given up 45 home runs, the 26^th most in Baseball.  The bullpen is not bad but not great with an ERA of 4.18, 18^th in MLB.

                Looking at all this, their poor play is on Ross. Maybe a new manager could have them playing better baseball, but it won’t be enough for them to be back in the National League Central race.     The longer the Cubs wait to can Ross, the more the media will be writing about how they should.  The Cubs shouldn’t wait any longer.  Ross has proven he is not the Manager to lead this team moving forward.