Not long ago, chief of operations, Jed Hoyer, said the Cubs are on the front end of something big-the next run to greatness or something. He may be right, but right now, they’re on the front end of a three-game losing streak. After winning the season opener, they’ve underperformed on route to a 1-3 record.

The 2023 season is going to be rife with mini-losing streaks and occasional mini-winning streaks. Managing them is going to be David Ross’s big task and convincing Cubdom that he’s not the cause of the losing streaks.

For the better part of the past decade, 98.6% of the baseball intelligentsia has been decrying the sacrifice bunt. The smart folks have all the numbers to suggest that the bunt is a complete waste of an at-bat. With the universal DH, most people would argue the bunt is even more worthless. The Cubs and Ross are at the forefront of using numbers to the benefit of the team. I accept all of that and embrace it.

In last night’s 7-6 loss to the Reds, Ross had the Cubs lone power-hitter, Patrick Wisdom, bunt with two runners on base and no outs in the top of the 7th inning. Wisdom eventually popped up to the pitcher after some feeble stabs.

The Cubs announcers gave Rossi and Wisdom a pass. That it was a ridiculous display of baseball skills is one thing. What rankles me was that it was an unsound strategy on many levels. Wisdom doesn’t have a history of bunting. The Cubs were finally playing in warmer, baseball weather and were starting to hit. The guy on the mound for the Reds (Fernando Cruz) wasn’t Cy Young or even Don Gullett so he should have been swinging away. The booth wondered if Wisdom’s wrist was still bothering him (bunting wouldn’t be any easier). Wisdom came up in the 9th and of the situation said, that he wanted to get on base any way possible. Forget about Rossi’s handling of the pitching staff. Ross got a pass from the media last year because he was forced to play so many inexperienced players and he appeared to get the most from them. That’s not to say he is a good in-game manager.

It’s only one, three-game losing streak so I’m not worried, yet.