Week In Review: Perhaps Cubs Are the Danger

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Down, but never out. 

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The biggest question around the 2025 Cubs so far is the kind you like to find yourself asking, come late April: Is this team really as good as they appear to be? An ongoing narrative is the North Siders' arduous April schedule. With the month that has lasted a year finally leaning toward its close, though, the Cubbies are in terrific shape to finish the month at or above .500. That's despite some adversity, and that grueling slate. It doesn't take an aesthetic specialist to explain that Craig Counsell's club doesn't always win pretty, but they do often win. 

Look no further than the breathtaking Friday 1:20 game that unfolded this past week. In a contest that woke from a half-slumber mid-game and became a high-stakes slugfest, the Cubs' bullpen fell victim to a surreal eighth-inning meltdown. The top of the inning in question saw back-end rotation hopeful Jordan Wicks almost immediately load the bases in a game the Cubs led 7-1. It spiraled from there, thanks not only to Wicks being hit hard but to Arizona's dangerous power, the hitter-friendly winds, and a couple of Cubs miscues.

Of course, you know full well how the game ended. Bouncing off the mat and coming up swinging more fiercely than ever, the Cubs put six runs back on the Arizona pen, on the strength of home runs by Carson Kelly, Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki. It was thunderous and wonderful and, in a season that has already seen this dynamic offense deliver some blowout wins, a rare close game that broke their way in the end. Any disappointment felt by anyone with a stake in this organization stems from witnessing such great baseball thus far, that we expect even more success. The club certainly has its warts. What could have been a sweep versus the Arizona Diamondbacks suddenly transformed into a deflating 3-2 defeat in extra innings, rain delays and all. The culprit in this tilt was a deafening silence from the bats, but they had opportunities to win, anyway. Failures to execute in a couple of key moments cost them those shots. 

Much of the reason not to bat an eyelash at any of the adversity the team has faced thus far, is the club's resiliency. Currently sitting atop their division, the Cubs have won five series on the young season, against stout opponents with winning pedigrees. Paradoxically, when a team is good enough to engender raised expectations, every loss hurts more. If you're left feeling let down after Tucker gets out on a called third strike, it's because he's such an extraordinary player.

Beyond the superstardom of Tucker, the Cubs lineup doesn't strike you as something to display at the Art Institute, but they're their own movement. Seiya Suzuki, a vastly underrated hitter, is coming fully into his own this spring. The team's role players have stepped up early on with some big hits and some manufactured runs.

A long road to the postseason awaits the Cubs, a squad still searching for defensive security at certain spots on the field. The current rotational nature of the third base position poses unique challenges to a clubhouse that otherwise has clear staples around the diamond. Matt Shaw's return to Iowa was necessary, but it leaves them scrambling. Justin Steele's injury was foreseeable, but it's still hard to work around.

Baseball is a war of attrition, waged daily over a long campaign. Outplaying opponents is important, but so is outlasting them. The goal should be, in more matchups than not, to be the team creating more danger and stress for the opponent than they create for you. Against some awfully good teams, the Cubs have managed to do that a majority of the time.

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