Given the current dismal state of the Chicago Cubs’ offense, this is a tough case to argue. However, the schedule maker was especially unfair to the Cubs over the holiday weekend.
The Cubs were chosen by ESPN to play the national Sunday night game in St. Louis. After the game, they had to fly to Milwaukee, arriving in the middle of the night, and prepare to face the division-leading Brewers Monday afternoon.
By any reasonable standard, MLB should have scheduled the game for Monday night, giving the visiting team adequate rest and preparation time for the change-of-city game. But that didn’t happen.
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The Cubs lost 5-1, with Milwaukee breaking a scoreless game with five runs in the eighth inning against Chicago’s bullpen. The Cubs managed only one run in the ninth inning and just five hits overall.
As mentioned initially, it’s difficult to argue that the Cubs’ offense was affected by the demanding travel schedule, mainly because their offense has been generally ineffective. In their last nine games, seven of which were losses, the Cubs have scored just 22 runs, with six of those coming in one game.
This results in an average of two runs per game for the other eight games.
Cubs offense certainly wasn’t helped by brutal schedule vs. Brewers, Cardinals
The team’s performance during that nine-game stretch has been abysmal: a slash line of .179/.243/.258, reminiscent of Little League standards. It’s not surprising they went 2-7; the real surprise is that they didn’t go 0-9. Both wins were achieved via walk-offs.
Nonetheless, there’s an inherent unfairness in playing a day game after a night game in different cities. The unfairness is so apparent that MLB schedule makers usually avoid forcing teams into this situation.
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Chicago’s Sunday night loss in St. Louis was the ninth Sunday night game of the season. None of the previous eight required teams to play a day game in a different city the following day. Three of those eight were part of wrap-around series ending on Monday, one had the traveling team with a scheduled off day, and the other four involved night games in the new city.
Ironically, this kind of scheduling issue is most likely to occur at Chicago’s North Side, due to a city ordinance prohibiting the Cubs from scheduling Friday night regular season games.
Despite the Cubs having 14 regular season Friday afternoon games at Wrigley this season, none require the visiting team to arrive after a Thursday night game in a different city. Seven opponents have or will arrive after an off day, and one will come off the All-Star break. Four others will continue series that began on Thursday.
Only the Cardinals on June 14 and the Angels on July 5 will come in after a Thursday game in another city, and both getaway games are scheduled for the afternoon.
ESPN has scheduled future Sunday night games through mid-June, and none require one of the teams to play a Monday afternoon game in another city.
This isn’t to argue that a well-rested Cubs team would have beaten the Brewers on Monday afternoon. It’s unclear if the Cubs’ offense can beat any team right now, regardless of rest. But for fairness, MLB should prohibit teams from scheduling afternoon series openers when the visiting team is arriving from a night game in another city.
