It's Time for Cubs Fans to Panic About Joe Maddon

We normally wouldn't overreact and come down on a team that is currently in second place of the NL Central and clinging to a Wild Card spot, but the Chicago Cubs aren't a normal club.

Seriously, what rational baseball fan thought the Cubbies would be sitting just THREE games above .500 at 87 games into the season? The same team filled with the same core of players that advanced as far as the NLCS and World Series in three of the four previous campaigns?

Sorry, Wrigley Field devotees. It's officially time to hit the panic button on manager Joe Maddon, and his awful decision making Wednesday was a perfect reminder to confirm the long-pondered notion.

Joe Maddon will be the fall guy, and has certainly contributed to this team's failings since 2016. But the front office's failures are why the Cubs are where they are.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) July 4, 2019

For starters, he brought in Craig Kimbrel, a reliever still finding his groove after being out of the game for a year, to preserve a one-run lead.

And eventually, the questionable decision to start star catcher Willson Contreras in right field came back to bite Maddon in the 9th inning when he misplayed a pop-up by Jung Ho Kang. Wake up and smell the brewing cup of joe, Joe. Jayson Heyward is one of the best defensive right fielders in the game and he was sitting on your bench!

Moments later, however, he elected not to move the infield in with the tying and go-ahead runners on second and third with one out. A ground ball to second base proceeded and Addison Russell was unable to throw the runner out at home.

Tie-game.

The blow back I hear, when people complain about Joe Maddon, is that the #Cubs wouldn't have won in 2016 without him. Maybe that's true. But ask yourself honestly, if the team had hired a different guy, and had all the same personnel, would we have won 1 or more WS from '15-'18?
— Dan Gallagher (@dgallagher34) July 4, 2019

That's to say nothing of his refusal to pitch around Pirates slugger Josh Bell, who TORMENTED the Cubs in what seemed like every one of his at-bats throughout the series.

Yes, every manager has a shambolic showing every now and then. But Joe has personified these easily avoidable breakdowns all season long.

Consider the seat that Maddon is currently sitting on as boiling hot.