SAN FRANCISCO - Last Friday, the Chicago Cubs began their west coast road trip coming off of a huge series win at Wrigley versus the Tampa Bay Rays. Many fans were hoping that the series win versus the MLB best Rays would give the team some momentum heading out west for a 10 game road trip. After signing Dansby Swanson to a seven year $177 million dollar contract as well as some under the radar pick-ups like Trey Mancini, Cody Bellinger, and Drew Smyly, Cubs fans were hoping to get off to a much better start this season. It has been the exact opposite for the Cubbies, but there is still hope in what is one of the weaker divisions across baseball. 

This downward trend continued on Thursday night versus the Los Angeles Angels with a 3-1 loss. Drew Smyly gave the Cubs a quality start allowing three runs over six innings, but the bats were nowhere to be found which has been a trend during the four game losing streak. With the sweep, the Cubs dropped to 2-5 on the road trip. Tonight they start the last series of the trip versus the San Francisco Giants who are playing some of their best baseball as of late and are coming off of a sweep versus the Colorado Rockies. Friday night’s starter Marcus Stroman has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this year and looks to help the team grab some early momentum in the series. 

The Cubs righty has gotten wins in his last four starts and has shown no signs of slowing down recently, recently winning NL pitcher of the week. This year Stroman leads the NL in wins above replacement and hits per nine innings. He is also second in the NL in earned run average and fourth in innings pitched which shows how valuable he has been. His performance has become even more critical with Justin Steele recently going down with a forearm injury. 

At the plate, the Cubs will look to get something going even though they rank 21st in the MLB in runs per game away from home. Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson, and Ian Happ have had solid years at the plate and Seiya Suzuki has played well since returning from injury. However, nobody has been great and this is reflected in the team’s .245 batting average that ranks 18th in the MLB. On top of this, Cody Bellinger, one of the Cubs better hitters has been out since May 15th with a left knee injury he sustained versus the Houston Astros. If the team hopes to turn things around before the all-star break, they will need better hitting from guys like Trey Mancini and Patrick Wisdom, who has gone ice cold. Otherwise, it could be another long season for Cubs fans where they end up being sellers at the trade deadline once again.