What the hell is the Cubs problem?

The Chicago Cubs are 1-6.

The team that has averaged almost 97 wins in the past four seasons is tied for the worst record in Major League Baseball and their is one area to blame: their pitching.

The Cubs pitching staff has posted a 7.85 ERA throughout their seven games, which is just completely unacceptable. They have walked an obscene 46 in 57.1 innings pitched and have allowed 16 home runs. The bullpen has been the biggest culprit, blowing three late inning leads and putting the Cubs out of reach in two others.

The starting pitching hasn't been too sharp either, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt early on. Cole Hamels strike zone tightened at the worst time,the defense completely failed Kyle Hendricks, and Yu Darvish is still getting back into the swing of things.

It's fair to say a lot of their struggles, though, are not sustainable at all. Going into Fridays game their pitching staff has posted a .355 BABIP, a 64.4 LOB%, and a 26.8% HR/FB rate. All of which are incredibly unlikely to remain at those rates.

However, just because it's early and the Cubs are getting unlucky, doesn't mean there shouldn't be cause for concern. Every game in the regular season counts and if the Brewers are as good as their record, them the catch up job will be extremely difficult.

Carl Edwards Jr has been horrendous and the Cubs need to take a serious look at moving him down to Iowa. He's pitched in four games with an awful 32.40 ERA. He's pitched just 1.2 innings but has managed to give up six earned runs thanks to three hits and five walks allowed.

Of course Edwards is not the only guy to blame. Mike Montgomery has allowed six earned runs, Steve Cishek has a 10.13 ERA, Brad Brach has six walks in four innings. The failures are just all over the place.

It's fair to say the Cubs aren't at full strength right now. Brandon Morrow, Xavier Cedeno, and Tony Barnette are all on the IL, and all of them figured to see significant innings out of the pen when healthy.

It's easy to blame Tom Ricketts for not wanting to open up the checkbook, but I don't think anyone thought it was possible for the pitching to be THIS bad. It's only seven games and I think the bullpen will bounce back, but it's also fair to have some worry.