Well, they& #39;re 16-10 in a 60-game season, so they could be by default.

The way they& #39;re playing lately, and probably for the next week+? No.

If their stars hit anything at all like expectations? Yes. You have a chance in this format with top-heavy rosters & 2 ace-level SP. https://twitter.com/AFabes24/status/1297379098206048263">https://twitter.com/AFabes24/...

It cannot be overstated. This is a team dependent on its stars. If their stars aren& #39;t performing, it will go bad. It& #39;s just like if you removed a team& #39;s top 2-3 starting pitchers or an NFL team& #39;s quarterback.

Ian Happ has helped alleviate some of it with his monster numbers, of course. And that wasn& #39;t expected. So, you obviously have to include him when talking about what the other guys *aren& #39;t* doing.

But... it will go poorly if these guys perform like this...

Kris Bryant: .177/.271/.323, 65 wRC+

Javy Baez: .198/.250/.344, 59 wRC+

Anthony Rizzo: .212/.380/.412, 124 wRC+

Willson Contreras: .224/.355/.382, 105 wRC+

Kyle Schwarber: .217/.337/.398, 102 wRC+

Rizzo and Contreras are at least getting on base, so that& #39;s neat. But they& #39;re not hitting either (in Rizzo& #39;s case, he has a .213 BABIP and has lined out a lot, but the results haven& #39;t been there, anyway).

I mean, the highest batting AVG there is *Schwarber* at *.217*.

Listen, you can go on and on about the flaws and this and that. These dudes should not ever be hitting this poorly, all at the same time, for 26 games. And we *knew* this was not a depth team. It& #39;s a top-heavy, hope your stars carry you team.

Will it stay this bad? It& #39;s hard to imagine so, but we& #39;re almost halfway done with the season, so who knows. And in Bryant& #39;s case, we should just not expect much from him at this point.

But you& #39;d think that at least 1 or 2 dudes hit *anything* like they& #39;re capable of.