Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
On May 2, the Cubs lost to the Reds, 13–12 in 10 innings, in a game that Cubs manager David Ross commented afterward, “felt like a playoff game.” That may have been true of the game’s back-and-forth nature, but the playoff vibe was certainly not due to his team’s form at the time.
The loss was the Cubs’ seventh in nine games, dropping their record to 12-16. Starting pitcher Trevor Williams—who allowed six runs and was the fourth Chicago starter in five games who failed to reach the fifth inning—said afterwards of the team’s starting pitching to that point: “We really need to do better as a rotation.