You know what's surprising about the Cubs' ongoing losing streak, which hit nine games yesterday?
It's not that this ragtag baseball team would get beat nine straight times. It's not that they went 59 innings without holding a lead until Reed Johnson homered in the first inning last night at Houston. It's not that they found a way to get swept by an Astros team many expected to be historically bad — worse, even, than the Cubs themselves — in 2012.
No, what's surprising to me is that the Cubs hadn't lost nine straight games, until now, since 2002. You mean to tell me the 2006 Cubs didn't have like eight losing streaks of that length? It never happened in 2010 or 2011? Didn't the 2004 Cubs end the season with a 30-game losing streak, or did it just feel like it?
What's happening now isn't that surprising. Frustrating, sure. Painful, absolutely. Surprising? No. The Cubs stink, but we knew this already.
It's also not cause for panic. Everybody and their brother seems to be calling for the Cubs to promote top prospect Anthony Rizzo. The Cubs aren't scoring any runs, and Rizzo is tearing the cover off the ball at Triple-A. I don't understand what bringing him up — and starting his arbitration clock — accomplishes. Rizzo could hit like the 2001 version of Barry Bonds and the Cubs still wouldn't go anywhere.
There's no reason to make a move that benefits the Cubs in the present during a lost season like this one. Everyting the Cubs do should be geared toward the future, and waiting until later this year to bring Rizzo up, permanently, makes the most sense long-term. Who knows, the Cubs might find someone willing to give up a little something for Bryan LaHair (or someone, God willing, to take Alfonso Soriano) by then, so Rizzo will actually have somewhere to play.
The Cubs' best plan of attack is to sit tight and take their lumps. In the coming weeks, they may make some moves, but again, everything they do should (and probably will) be designed to benefit them in 2013 and beyond, not now. Rizzo and Brett Jackson will be here when it makes sense for them to be here, and that time isn't now.
