I'm starting to think Craig Counsell is the problem.
In case you didn't know, Craig Counsell is the highly paid manager for the Chicago Cubs.
He was highly regarded as the manager of the Brewers. The Brewers have demonstrated that it is their organization which wins, not their manager. The Cubs lost today largely due to a baserunning mistake in the 9th inning: with men on first and third with no outs, the man on third base, Kevin Alcantara, sprinted toward home plate when the batter hit a hard liner right at the first baseman. He was easily doubled up. It's another example of foolish baseball and I'm seeing a lot of it. That's on Counsell.
Then there is the team tendency to have four or five hitters go into simultaneous slumps. How does that happen? It happened last year as well.
I know a lot of fans have a tendency to blame the manager when the fault lies elsewhere, but I am really starting to think I'm onto something.
= new reply since forum marked as read
How many pitchers have been on the IL? Why? Is their conditioning to blame?
And about the hitting slump - is there a hitting coach? There needs to be some intense work on offense.
Then again, fans are probably partly to blame, too. When we saw contract extensions and money going out for pitching, we never should have gotten excited after those early games and declared “this is going to be the year!” Obviously, our optimism was the kiss of death. 
Note: I think that bitch who picked a fight with Pete really did a number on the team’s morale, too… That’s when things really started to go haywire. Of all sports, I think baseball is an extremely mental game and as dependent upon maintaining a confidence that can really propel you into the post season as the actual physical skills required to stay on top of the game.
Counsell has really underwhelmed his entire tenure, IMHO, and especially this season. I was hoping we’d see a new face this spring, but… Hoyer and the fkg Ricketts. *eyeroll*