As the old saying goes, don’t take the walk if can’t walk the walk. Wait, no, that’s not it. Don’t talk the walk if you can’t take the walk? Well, however it’s supposed to go, the Cubs are doing a good job of abiding by it on both sides. As of press time, they are MLB’s best team in terms of combined walk rates by pitchers and batters.
It can be hard to enjoy the season when nearly half of your team’s games are one-run affairs (28 of 61 games, 46%, so far this season), but it’s not nearly as maddening as watching a team that can’t take a free pass while at the same time issuing them like candy to opponents.