The Cubs’ overall run differential suggested that they should’ve finished 2019 with a 91-71 record, not the underwhelming 84-78 record that prompted an organizational overhaul. Explanations for their disparity between expected wins and actual wins included blown bullpen games, injuries, erratic run-scoring, and general weirdness. While all of these factors contributed to an underwhelming season of reckoning, one specific hallmark was inconsistency of power production from the heart of the order.
Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo — two of the most valuable players in MLB over the last five years — displayed particularly uncharacteristic inconsistency in 2019.