(670 The Score) The Cubs lost their first three series of the season in starting with a 2-7 record. Since then, they have gone 22-7 and haven't lost a series, ascending to first place in the NL Central by two games over the Brewers, whom they beat 4-1 on Sunday night.
Here are the latest trends with the Cubs:
THREE UP
1.) Leave it to Lester
Is Cubs ace left-hander Jon Lester getting better with age? At the least, he has showcased that he can reinvent himself as needed to stay at the top of his profession. In the second-to-last season of the six-year, $155-million deal that he signed ahead of the 2015 season, Lester continues to be everything the Cubs could hope for.
Lester is 3-1 with a 1.16 ERA over seven starts and 38 2/3 innings of work this season. He allowed one unearned run in 6 2/3 innings in his team's win Sunday. Lester has increased his strikeouts-per-nine to 9.1 and lowered his walks-per-nine to 1.9 after posting marks of 7.4 and 3.2 in 2018, respectively.
While some regression can be expected, Lester has a 2.72 FIP, which ranks sixth in baseball.
2.) Bryant is back
The turnaround for third baseman Kris Bryant started on April 26, he said. That was when he finally hit his second homer of the season and first since Opening Day. Since that game in Arizona, Bryant seven homers, 18 RBIs, a slash line of .296/.451/.778, a weighted on-base percentage of .489 and a weighted-runs-created-plus mark of 210.
Bryant started slow before Cubs manager Joe Maddon helped him realize that the busy nature of his batting stance was inhibiting his the comfort in his swing. Bryant made an adjustment to mellow his movements and is now squaring up the ball.
Bryant is producing hard contact on 38.9 percent of batted balls and is registering soft contact only 12 percent of the time.
3.) Good Chatwood
Given their injuries in the bullpen, the Cubs have gotten a good look at right-hander Tyler Chatwood in a relief role. The results have been encouraging -- and surprising after his disastrous 2018 campaign.
Chatwood is 2-0 with a 3.10 ERA in 20 1/3 innings. His walk rate is down from 19.6 percent in 2018 to 15.9 percent this season and his walks-per-nine-innings are down from 8.2 to 5.8. Both are still concerning marks but also key improvements.
THREE DOWN
1.) More troubles for Yu
For Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish, better results start with commanding his fastballs. That was what he said after striking out seven Marlins while walking six in four innings last Thursday.
Darvish threw his four-seamer, two-seamer and cutter for only a 50-percent strike rate. He's 2-3 with a 5.40 ERA, a 10.80 strikeouts-per-nine rate and an MLB-worst 8.1 walks-per-nine-innings mark. In other words, Darvish has great stuff but can't consistently locate it.
2.) Schwarber struggles
The previously powerful bat of outfielder Kyle Schwarber has been anything but this season. Schwarber has only four homers and 10 RBIs in 34 games to go with a slash line of .229/.346/.376.
What's especially curious is the lack of power from Schwarber compared to years past. He has an isolated power mark of .147 and is producing hard contact at a 35.1 percent rate. Both of those numbers are down from his horrific 2017 campaign, one in which he hit 30 homers despite getting sent down to Triple-A Iowa.
3.) Stranded
It was only a weekend of sample size against some good Brewers pitching, but the Cubs going 1-for-26 with runners in scoring position over these last three games is problematic. It reminded of their downfall at the end of the 2018 season.
The bigger-picture numbers remain encouraging. The Cubs are hitting .256 with runners in scoring position this season and own a team .856 OPS in those situations.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago's sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.
