The Chicago Cubs have struggled in ways that no one expected this season, a concern as this was supposed to be a club that had a chance to compete for a postseason bid.
Instead, the Cubs look out of it with the second half here, potentially being sellers with the trade deadline coming at the end of July.
Despite the bad play, players have often kept their cool when it comes to showing frustration. Justin Steele showed some emotions last week, yelling at the team to get fired up. However, he didn't take it too far. Chicago's ace simply wanted to get his team going.
More frustration started over the weekend, as right-handed reliever Colten Brewer did something he probably wishes he didn't. Brewer threw a tantrum in the dugout, perhaps unleashing a bottle of frustration that many in the clubhouse likely have.
He punched a wall in Wrigley Field's dugout, and as usual, the wall won. The 31-year-old broke his hand and was placed on the 60-day injured list for his selfish decision.
Brewer spoke with Patrick Mooney of The Athletic and understood he messed up.
“Emotions get the best of us at times,” Brewer said. “Letting my family down, and friends, teammates, the people of Wrigleyville, it’s just kind of heartbreaking to me right now.”
While punching a wall is never the answer, Brewer at least showed to the fan base that he cares.
Despite showing that he cares, manager Craig Counsell wasn't happy with his decision, and rightfully so. Brewer now puts the Cubs in an even worse position than they were already in.
“You hurt the team by doing it,” Counsell said. “It doesn’t reflect well on you. But you also put yourself in the shoes of this is an emotional game. Competition is emotional. And it happens. It’s something that you work hard to try to train yourself to not let it happen to you. But I think most of us have done something like that, (even if it) hasn’t resulted in that. (Myself) included.”
Counsell has played at the big league level and has been one of the top managers in baseball over the past decade, so he understands that things like this happen.
There are other ways to show emotion, and Brewer likely understands that now.
“When those things happen, you know you screwed up,” Counsell said. “That was the conversation. Then there’s consequences for the mistakes you make. It’s an unfortunate mistake. He let emotions get the best of him. It’s not who he is, but it’s a mistake that he made.”
