Week In Review: Cubs Adjust To Swirling Changes, Keep Winning

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While the royal subjects in King Tuck's Court await the momentous, blessed news of a long, healthy reign, the baseball goes on. 

Image courtesy of © Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Even the best, most vibrantly memorable seasons of our favorite game, at times, bring more adversity than triumph. That will have to be the case here as Justin Steele is out for the season with his latest elbow injury with surgery forthcoming. Retroactively, in the wake of what was thought to be a much less severe ailment, the Cubs recalled Ethan Roberts and sent cash considerations to the San Diego Padres in exchange for 28-year-old Tom Cosgrove. What does this mean? The easy answer is that the North Siders are doing what's necessary to stay deep and keep things moving. But much more than that, the squad's swift actions suggest that from Tom Ricketts on down, the team knows how good they could be and will do what it takes to keep skin in the game. 

After the Cubbies put a mesmerizing 16-0 drubbing on the Los Angeles Dodgers this past Saturday night,  Craig Counsell's group will have no trouble facing any challenge. With Seiya Suzuki falling late in the game with wrist discomfort, the Cubs are prepared to adopt a "next man up" mentality. Clearly, losing a guy with an OPS of .829 isn't ideal by any metric, but this club is built to endure such speed bumps. To say nothing of the offensive clinic Carson Kelly is putting on in the early going, his fellow catcher Miguel Amaya delivered a 2-for-3, 3 RBI night after replacing Suzuki in the designated-hitter spot. The Cubs have a brutal schedule to start the season, but their opponents feel the same way when they play the North Siders. This squad had to get better, and it did. 

In perhaps the club's most complete performance in recent memory, the North Siders, in a Colin Rea spot start game, took a 4-2 victory Sunday night versus Dave Robert's loaded Dodgers squad. Pete Crow-Armstrong showed up with his best game for the big league club, smacking two home runs and a rocket-powered triple. In addition to Rea shutting down the Dodger's storied offense, Craig Counsell's bullpen dazzled in a collective, palate-cleansing outing that was nothing short of clutch. Listen, with this Justin Steele injury, the Cubs just picked up a couple of unexpected questions that need answering, but in this series, the North Siders played like World Series contenders.

Everything is in play for the Cubbies. Whether or not Ben Brown remains a big leaguer for the balance of the 2025 season, he's at least shown he possesses an uncommon poise. He labored through 24+ pitch first inning versus the Dodgers, then proceeded to tap dance through six spotless frames of baseball. What impressed? How about five strikeouts, a good handful of groundball outs, and excellent communication with his catcher, Carson Kelly? He might not have many pitches in his repertoire, but what he's got, he uses effectively. Like a carefully calculated chess player, he uses tremendous strategy in besting his foe, knowing a King is lurking, waiting to claim checkmate.

Let's not get prematurely excited about this Kyle Tucker extension we hear so much about. But let's stay open to the idea that we could. The fact that the conversation is out there to be had seems to cause optimism. At a range of 10-11 years and between $400-$500 million, a Kyle Tucker extension would radically change the fortunes of this organization, creating a perennial playoff contender and ushering in a new era of winning baseball on the Northside of Chicago. 

So much of what we've talked about in these reviews points to what the Cubbies will be, but as they wrap up this latest West Coast trip, let's say what they are: one of the best teams in the game. 

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