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Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Lately, the Cubs can't seem to get out of their own way. Poor execution at the plate and on the mound doomed this club, in a week that saw the schedule lighten up with sub-.500 clubs visiting Wrigley Field. With the squad slipping further away from its goals, the frustrations bubbled over—not into some cathartic fight, but into a hissing cauldron of disappointment. Another losing week of baseball changed the question from when this club will come around to whether it will. The week commenced wth the Cubs playing host to the Athletics. Jameson Taillon is a loose brick in the starting rotation, already standing on a shaky foundation. His penchant for surrendering home runs early and often manifested in this contest, coughing up a solo shot to Nick Kurtz. From there, the veteran did manage 6 1/3 innings, but that was not sufficient for Chicago's laboring offense, which scratched just one run across the plate on an RBI groundout off the bat of Alex Bregman. Lacking a clutch gene, the squad went 1-for-7 with RISP in a 2-1 loss in the series opener. For the Cubs to seriously get back into the division race, they'll need balanced play on both sides of the ball, and that did not come in the middle tilt of their series with the A's. Caleb Thielbar blew a slim, late lead for the home team, giving the Athletics renewed hope. They would use extra innings to cash in on that hope, handing the North Siders an unexpected and demoralizing series loss. The A's won by a final score of 5-4 in 10. In the third contest against the team from Somewhere in the West, Chicago battled back from a deflating outing from Shota Imanaga to seize a cathartic 7-6 victory. It wasn't just the dramatic, walk-off nature of the triumph, but the fashion in which they did it that made it feel promising and special. While the rest of his teammates falter, the scorching-hot Pete Crow-Armstrong has put the club on his back in a way that has catapulted him back into the All-Star conversation. His walk-off single in the 10th inning elicited child-like glee from not only those in attendance, but Marquee Network's own Cliff Floyd, who exclaimed, "I needed this." With emotions running high and the iconic Bleacher Bums in their brand-new replica jerseys, Chicago killed the buzz on Friday. A brutal 18-3 rout at the hands of the comically mediocre San Francisco Giants dispelled any hope of carrying momentum from game to game. The contest was Edward Cabrera's first start, returning from a brief stint on the IL due to a blister on his throwing hand. The squad's hard-throwing youngster got pelted, surrendering eight earned runs. As has often been the case, the bullpen provided no answers, with lackluster appearances from all who took the mound, including junk time work from position player Carson Kelly. It's ghastly to imagine where the team would be without Crow-Armstrong Over the past week, the Gold Glove center fielder is batting .517 with 8 RBIs and a 1.632 OPS. With the Cubs down to their final out Saturday, Crow-Armstrong drilled his second long fly of the game, an absolute no-doubter to right field. Crow-Armstrong's heroics allowed his club to secure a dramatic win on another strong day for breakout starting pitcher Ben Brown. The final 3-2 in 10 innings. Taking the national stage for the second straight week on Sunday Night Baseball, Chicago seized a gut-wrenching defeat from the jaws of victory. After exiting the game with a strained hamstring, Taillon was replaced by the recently called-up Javier Assad. Cruising through the Giants' lineup like a Ferrari on Lakeshore Drive, Assad was magnificent in 6 1/3 relief innings. It appeared as though the young pitcher's heroics were meant to be rewarded, as his club repeatedly found itself in promising run-scoring scenarios, ultimately squandering all of them. The 2-1 loss in 10 innings was one of the team's most crushing in an endless sea of crushing losses. So now, with more tilts opposite clubs far less formidable than what lies further down the road, the Cubs hope to take back their narrative. A travel day Monday lands the Cubs in Denver for a three-game set with the Rockies, before jetting out to the Bay Area to face this very same Giants squad. This Cubs team, even with its persistent shortcomings, continues to flash glimpses of the blueprints for a return to sustained success. But the project still suffers agonizing delays, and it might prove too costly or too poorly organized to be completed under this leadership group. View full article

Image courtesy of © Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Since securing their last series win against the Reds on May 6, the Cubs are 7-15. They're standing naked in the cold spotlight right now, and some of those laughing in the dark are their fiercest rivals. With a demoralizing combination of stranded baserunners and inconsistent pitching, the city's North Side baseball team has lived a nightmare for the last three weeks. A late recharge of this squad's bats and some masterful pitching performances from unexpected places proved that it's far from over. The renewal of a division rivalry feels more important than a tilt featuring more unfamiliar opponents. With the North Siders kicking off a four-game set in Pittsburgh on the Memorial Day holiday, this sentiment was clearly on the minds of players in both dugouts. The suddenly marvelous Ben Brown took the bump. He went six full innings, surrendering just four hits and one earned run, and punching out seven Pirates. The club's inept offense doomed them once again, however, as they were flummoxed by Pittsburgh starter Carmen Mlodzinski. Chicago mustered its only run, a solo shot off the bat of Michael Busch, against the Buccos starter, but that's where it ended, leaving seven stranded in a 2-1 victory for the Pirates. The loss of Cade Horton near the outset of this campaign set into motion the world's worst game of musical chairs. Craig Counsell and his staff have looked in every corner of this clubhouse for answers, from Javier Assad to Tuesday's starter, Jordan Wicks. Alas: nothing has panned out for the North Siders. In his first start of the season, Wicks was roughed up, surrendering eight earned runs on nine hits. Racking up eight hits and just one run, the offense went an astonishing 1-for-13 with RISP. This is a team that's had a hard time getting out of its own way, and this contest was no different, with the Pirates winning 12-1. It's no secret that Pittsburgh native Ian Happ loves to work at PNC Park. With a five-RBI day, Happ powered his squad to their first convincing victory in weeks Wednesday, in a 10-4 triumph. One element of this slide that has doomed the Cubs is inconsistent pitching, but despite Jameson Taillon giving up another pair of home runs, the staff largely kept their opponents in check. The bullpen had one of its best showings of late, with solid appearances from Ethan Roberts, Jacob Webb, Phil Maton, and Caleb Thielbar. The tilt served as a reminder that this Chicago team has much to play for. With the offense finally clicking, the Cubs salvaged a split on Thursday. Michael Busch, Alex Bregman, and Happ all recorded critical hits, with the squad's left fielder crushing another long fly. Colin Rea delivered a steady showing, coughing up just two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings of work. In the smallest of sample sizes, the Cubs put forth their most encouraging two games of offense, restoring some of the good habits and better vibes that have been so sorely missing from this ball club. The final score was 7-2. A lack of synchronization between the team's offense and defense dragged them to the depths of the NL Central cellar for a moment in the past week. A 6-5 loss in the opener of their three-game set with the archrival Cardinals supplied a convincing demonstration of this case. Happ homered in his third-straight game, but a dismal appearance from Shota Imanaga put the North Siders behind early. Though he's not the only starter who struggles with the long ball, Imanaga allowed the Cards to swat three long flies. The 6-5 win for the home team ended Chicago's win streak at two. Ben Brown is, by default, the momentary ace of this staff, and his virtuoso performance in game two of the series evened things. Brown was as confident as he was efficient, cruising through the early innings with his balanced arsenal. He frustrated the Cardinals lineup with a wicked curveball and his two-seam fastball. Pete Crow-Armstrong put his stamp on the game with his best performance of the year: a four-hit game, placing the tarps back on to a raucous Saint Louis crowd with a 444-foot moonshot, his seventh on the year. The sparkling night at the plate helped the Cubbies to a 6-1 win. In front of a sold-out Sunday Night Baseball crowd, the North Siders squandered their shot at the second series win of the month. Wicks followed up his previous pedestrian outing with a shorter but not better one. He couldn't find much of a groove, yielding four hits and three earned runs. As he went, so went the club's worst offensive tendencies, with a solo homer from Alex Bregman providing the only offense in the rubber match. The North Siders' pitching woes have been known for some time, but if they wish to really gain ground in this division, it's a problem they must solve, and fast. Chicago fell 5-1 at Busch Stadium. The calendar now turns to June, with Craig Counsell's club still seeking a consistent formula for success. The squad gets a day off on Monday before returning to the Friendly Confines for a three-game set with the competent Athletics. The weekend festivities at Wrigley will see the San Francisco Giants pay a visit. While there are still a few positives to speak to regarding this baseball team, the negatives are dominating at the moment. There's time, but the Cubs had better be keeping better track of it. View full article

With a team playing as poorly as the Chicago Cubs are right now, shining a light on one individual player's poor performance is akin to blaming a single cloud for a particularly heavy rain. As the club's losses have piled up, so have its frustrations, resulting in a team eager to deliver winning baseball, but laboring mightily to manifest the reality they and countless others desire. On better days, Moisés Ballesteros is a powerful and menacing bat. His impressive stature and skill set at the plate have the potential not only to catalyze his team's offense, but also the overall success of the club. The North Siders currently own a .245 batting average. That's not astonishingly low, but given where the squad was at the end of April and during their pair of 10-game winning streaks, it's more than enough to give one pause. Ballesteros, with his Prince Fielder-like frame, was a major factor in those halcyon days. The 22-year-old set the league ablaze in April with a .338/.392/.620 line. He even ranked in the top three in baseball in total hits through the first full month of the season. The surprising, wild ride made him an early candidate for NL Rookie of the Year. From that point, as it has with so many of his colleagues sporting Cubbie blue, regression set in. Given Ballesteros's rookie status, there is a smaller sample size from which to draw compared to other top-of-the-order batters, such as Ian Happ. Occupying the designated hitter role, Ballesteros comes to the plate with a swing-first mindset. Thus, his approach is reliant on first-pitch swings, which he offers 50.4% of the time. Additionally, he's chasing balls out of the zone at a 37.6% clip. Ballesteros does his damage by putting the ball in play and getting it to either touch grass or fly out of the park. He has close to zero value as a baserunner in late-game situations, due to his lack of speed. He's currently holding a .253 BABIP, leading opposing pitchers to come after him, but not necessarily with the nastiest stuff. Ballesteros feasts on changeups and has seen far fewer of them as his struggles persist. Recently dethroned by the Milwaukee Brewers as the top team in the loaded NL Central, the North Siders' collective bats are quieter than an audience watching a performance of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Several trackable aspects are certainly leading to their shortcomings, though even to the casual observer, the team is pressing—pushing too hard to deliver "the hit" that snaps them out of this funk. Neither Ballesteros nor anyone else can deliver that breakthrough moment, at least not yet. The night is darkest before the dawn, so perhaps the best is yet to come. Facing incessant criticism regarding the lineup card, Craig Counsell must be the one to insert Ballesteros back into the everyday fold. Ballesteros is increasingly omitted from his club's batting order, a move that is not likely to increase his confidence or performance at the dish. When the team was thriving, he spurred on plenty of its success. A "back to basics" reset of this lineup warrants some thought—although, where would this team be without what it's gotten from Michael Conforto so far? The best version of the Chicago Cubs can't be realized without a bopping Ballesteros. Knocked off their perch, the North Siders are now tasked with getting back in the fight. If they want to reclaim the top spot in the division, and maybe even stay there, they have to be the ones to throw the next punches. For the best outcomes, it's time for Ballesteros to step back into the ring and land a few decisive haymakers. View full article

Image courtesy of © David Banks-Imagn Images The North Siders' three biggest pillars of success in 2026 — clutch situational hitting, baserunning, and sparkling defense — all but dried up in the most frustrating week of the season. We had alluded to the fact that it doesn't get easier, but with the Cubs' warts put on full display, their ability to right the ship will determine whether or not the squad's larger aspirations are attainable. A day off this past Monday allowed the Cubbies to settle into the accommodations at Truist Park as they set to do battle for three games with the dreaded Atlanta Braves. The two clubs briefly traded places, boasting the best record in baseball. By the end of their three-game tilt, Atlanta presented as the real cream of the crop. The consistently average Colin Rea took the ball for the North Siders opposite Grant Holmes in the opener. A seesaw defensive struggle turned in the fourth inning as the home team put up a four-run tally on the Cubs, including a two-run blast off the bat of Mike Yastrzemski. Holmes and the Atlanta pitching staff silenced Chicago's bats, with a solo shot from the ascending Alex Bregman providing the only hit of the contest for the Cubs in a 5-2 loss. Squandering an absolute gem from the southpaw Shota Imanaga, a dormant offense hamstrung the Cubbies once again in the middle game of this matchup. The de facto ace of this club was as sharp as we've come to expect this season, striking out six batters and surrendering just five hits. His impressive effort set his team up nicely heading into a tied eighth inning, where, in relief of Imanaga, the beleaguered Phil Maton sank the visiting team's hopes for a series-tying victory. The little things in this game make the biggest difference, and this rang painfully true in the Cubbies' 4-1 defeat. The margins between these two clubs are slim yet pronounced. When clicking, the Cubs have one of the most fearsome offenses in all of the majors. Squaring off against a Cy Young-caliber hurler in Chris Sale, the North Siders rose to the level of their competition. Ben Brown matched Sale stride for stride in the early going. Brown threw four remarkably efficient innings, allowing only a run and striking out seven Braves. His mastery on the mound gave Ian Happ and an opportunistic offense a chance to secure their 28th win of the season in the series' finale. With that consolation prize in hand, the Cubs arrived in the neighborhood of Bridgeport for the renewal of the Crosstown Classic. While still not among baseball's elite, Will Venable's White Sox are heading in the right direction faster than an express train leaving the Sox/35th station. This truth notwithstanding, the North Siders slugged their way to a late, convincing victory in the opener. The cathartic offensive output came from batters throughout this lineup, especially Carson Kelly, who bashed his way to a 3-for-5, four-RBI day. The rally turned a nip-and-tuck, tie game into a cakewalk for the visiting team, earning them a 10-5 triumph. Starting pitcher Jameson Taillon has earned his fair share of criticism for lacking control, mental stamina, and giving up too many home runs. Those criticisms roared louder than ever on the veteran's worst start of the season. Jamo was pelted, surrendering eight earned runs and five long balls, raising his ERA to an alarming 4.97. He is a glaring liability in this rotation, putting the onus for improvement not just on the pitching staff, but the front office as well. Pete Crow-Armstrong provided a silver lining in the ninth, blasting a two-run bomb, his fifth long fly of the year in the losing effort. "Summer Time Chi" was in full swing this past weekend on the South Side. For a fleeting, tantalizing time, it looked like the North Siders would board the team bus with bragging rights in tow. But it was the fans from the part of town that gave us Grammy award-winning rapper Common, who ran back to their fantasy, a win over their hated rivals in extra innings. Knotted at four, Phil Maton coughed up a three-run blast to the Sox Tristan Peters. The homer completed the rally for the South Siders, who erased a 4-1 deficit. The thunderous bomb from Peters had all but sealed the fate of Craig Counsell's squad, until the scorching-hot Michael Conforto crushed a dramatic, game-tying home run off of SerAnthony Dominguez. The Cubs took the lead in the tenth yet failed to tack on insurance, making way for Edgar Quero's cinematic two-run walk-off blast, silencing the raucous Cubs fans in attendance. The loss marked the North Siders' third straight series loss. No reprieve will come to this struggling Cubs squad as it heads back to Wrigley for a six-game homestand. Up next, the Cubbies host Christian Yelich and the defending NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers. This upcoming weekend sees the Houston Astros paying a visit to the North Side of Chicago. No ardent supporter of this Chicago Cubs team should situate themselves too close to the panic button, but this week, with a chance to either cushion or relinquish their division lead, stands to shed light on where this club is right now. View full article

Image courtesy of © David Banks-Imagn Images With a +43 run differential, Chicago's North Side baseball team is no stranger to getting and scoring its baserunners. Featuring a .347 team OBP, Craig Counsell's club is one of the best at stepping up to the dish and reaching base. Of course, as the skipper and all ardent supporters of this franchise will tell you, though, it's not about getting on base; it's about what you do once you get there. The squad's willingness and readiness to run on their opponents currently has them standing atop the toughest division in the game. If they continue their success at this level, they might stay there. As one peruses the matchup programs sold by vendors outside the Friendly Confines, they'll find that their Chicago Cubs aren't the best at running; they're just always ready to step up. The Cubs have 31 swipes to their name, with 11 (three times caught stealing) of those coming from Pete Crow-Armstrong, who is one of the fastest players in professional baseball. Gold Glove second baseman Nico Hoerner joins Crow-Armstrong in the top 25 with eight swipes and zero times caught stealing. After that, the numbers dwindle, but depending on the lineup on a given night, two-thirds of it has a player with either a stolen base or at least an attempt. The squad's young slugger, Moises Ballesteros, is the outlier in Chicago's aggressive baserunning strategy. With his build, "Mo Baller" could likely reach base faster on an escalator than with his own wheels. He's batting second in the lineup behind Hoerner, one of the most prolific lead-off batters in MLB. So the conceit then is that Ballesteros will not have to run, but simply drive in or advance the runner already on base. There are several benefits to having a stable of ball players capable of nabbing a base, but it once again speaks to the construction of this lineup, which suggests those tasked with leading this team understand the value of run-scoring opportunities. To the dismay of all of us Cubs fans, the glaring control in this grand experiment is the squad's performances from the last week or so. In their four consecutive losses, the North Siders tallied just three runs. In the week prior to their series finale victory over the Braves, Nico Hoerner and Michael Busch were the only two everyday players sporting a batting average above the Mendoza line. The idea, however, as Counsell pointed out previously, "it will turn". Turning the page quickly is a quality the North Siders have harnessed in spades. Should they hope to enjoy the type of sustained success that their duo of 10-game winning streaks suggested, they're going to have to stay in the running. With just enough speed and determination, this club will find its stride. View full article

Image courtesy of © Jerome Miron-Imagn Images The specter of pitching injuries has haunted the Cubs all season, but for much of it, they've kept winning, anyway. They haven't lost at Wrigley Field since April 11, and with the Reds coming to town for four games last week, it was important that the team prove that was a product of their poise and talent, rather than just the good luck of facing some cold opponents. As it turned out, the Reds were as cold as they come, but the Cubs did an admirable job of taking advantage. Surrendering three runs and setting down eight Reds batters, Edward Cabrera's quality start Monday felt pedestrian—even insufficient on a day wherein offense came at a premium. After a Pete Crow-Armstrong triple and a game-tying sacrifice fly by Nico Hoerner, though, Michael Conforto delivered the first moment that felt like a signature of a good team getting great: an opposite-field walkoff homer. The moment was reminiscent of the best moments from last October, sending shockwaves that could be felt from Rogers Park all the way to Northwest Indiana. The Cubs took the opener by a score of 5-4. The next night required the same mettle. Trailing the Reds 2-1 in the eighth inning, Michael Busch smashed a one-out bomb to deep right field to knot things up. The dramatic home run reset the contest after another business-like outing from starter Jameson Taillon, who was picked up by dazzling relief appearances from Javier Assad, Jacob Webb, and Daniel Palencia. The latter's outing came in extra innings, wherein Palencia was masterful in keeping Cincinnati locked at two. Their tenth-inning escape made way for another cinematic moment for Busch, who delivered the game-winning knock with a single up the middle, allowing zombie runner Dansby Swanson to race home in a 3-2 triumph. While walk-off wins are not the ideal way to win a ball game, they sure are exciting. And with a chance to secure an impressive series victory, the North Siders delivered their third-straight "last-chance" victory. For the second-straight evening, the game made it to extra innings. After a blowup by reliever Corbin Martin greatly diminished his squad's chances of earning a 14th consecutive victory at home, Crow-Armstrong—a player made for the big stage—crushed a game-tying two-run homer. Anyone who needed further proof of Crow-Armstrong's return to form got it with that swing. Another scoreless 10th frame from the Cubs' bullpen got the home team up to bat in the bottom half of the frame. An implosion from Reds reliever Brock Burke brought Michael Busch to the dish with the bases loaded after issuing an intentional walk to Seiya Suzuki. With two outs, the lefty took a 3-1 pitch up and in, drawing the walk-off walk and an improbable 7-6 victory. The reinvigorated Shota Imanaga toed the rubber for Chicago in the series' finale. Searching for their second consecutive sweep, the Cubs found and displayed their best qualities. Imanaga set the tone with six strong innings, setting down 10 batters. Holding onto a 1-0 lead, Craig Counsell's squad unloaded in the fourth inning with a seven-run onslaught. Michael Conforto continued his impressive stretch with a perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate, driving in two runs. The up-and-down Gavin Hollowell briefly made the home team adjust their seats in what was otherwise a laugher. Palencia replaced the 28-year-old righty, earning his second save of the 2026 campaign. Winning at a pace as torrid as the Cubs have created an expectation for success. Discovering such a variety of ways to win instills confidence in the clubhouse's ability to rise to any occasion. Injuries being what they are for this squad, Ben Brown was summoned for his first start of the season Friday night in Texas, hoping to run his club's win streak to 10. With Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, serving as the backdrop, Brown answered the call, as he didn't allow a hit over four innings. His colleagues picked up where he left off as a combination of Ryan Rolison, Javier Assad, and Ethan Roberts allowed just two hits and one run in a 7-1 victory for Chicago. That's pretty much where the fun stopped, unfortunately. The Cubs were shut out in back-to-back games to close out the series. The Rangers tacked on here and there, and it never felt like the team was in either game. Cabrera and Taillon had workmanlike performances, again, but neither was good enough to lament much on their behalf, even with zero run support. Great pitching performances might be harder to come by for a while, too, since this week, the team lost Matthew Boyd to a torn meniscus in his knee. Boyd could miss anywhere from a handful of weeks to three months, but either way, the path ahead will be much tougher than the one behind them. That only makes the banked (almost stolen) wins they've compiled over the last few weeks more important, though. If this team does win the NL Central for the first time since 2017, it will be thanks in large part to the kinds of wins with which they started this week—even if it's equally obvious that they could lose the division race based on losses like the two to close it out. View full article

Image courtesy of © Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images All across professional baseball, there are good, competitive teams. As expected, the NL Central is littered with them. But there is a distinct line separating the good teams and the great ones. Craig Counsell's club has looked great for a plethora of reasons, though more than 30 games into this 2026 campaign, it's too early to tell for sure which side of the line they'll be on come September and October. The Cubs are a team that can beat you in every possible way, and that was on full display this past week—but they continue to be threatened by attrition. Even after rattling off 10 impressive victories in a row, including a comeback win over the Dodgers, pundits didn't acknowledge the Cubs as one of the premier squads in the league. That sentiment did not change in the club's first of three games versus the San Diego Padres. In a now steady pitching rotation, veteran lefty Matthew Boyd is still finding his way through an uneven start to the season. Lasting just four innings, Boyd labored through the heart of the Friars' lineup, coughing up five earned runs. A dramatic grand slam from young slugger Moisés Ballesteros briefly got the Cubs back into the lead in the third inning, but a San Diego answer in the home half of that inning put them back out in front for good. Game 2 of that series saw Edward Cabrera toeing the rubber, looking for his third win with his new club. He found it. Hurling 5 2/3 innings, Cabrera came just a hair short of a quality start, though the offense did more than enough to back up their starting pitcher. Pete Crow-Armstrong's continued recovery from a slow start at the plate manifested in a clutch 3-run bomb in the seventh inning to seal the bounce-back win for Chicago's North Side team. Chicago, with its deep musical roots, is a place where rhythm matters. Smashing his second home run in as many games, Pete Crow-Armstrong found his. The exciting center fielder crushed a two-run homer, at the time putting his squad up 3-0. Meanwhile, Jameson Taillon displayed why he is one of the more resilient pitchers in baseball, logging seven innings of three-hit baseball. The gutsy performance helped the team secure not only the series win, but a .500 road trip as the club boarded the plane back to Illinois. The homecoming homestanders let their guard down in the first of their three-game tilt with the Arizona Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field. After grabbing a 6-1 lead in the fourth inning, the North Siders appeared to be cruising, until the Diamondbacks and Geraldo Perdomo struck back with a four-run sixth inning. Thereafter, though, they quieted things down. Reliever Phil Maton followed up a very poor previous outing by blanking the Snakes. Jacob Webb turned in his best performance as a Cub, earning the save with two impressive shutout innings. On a brisk, sun-drenched Saturday, Shota Imanaga took the ball for the North Siders. In a greatly altered starting pitching rotation, Imanaga has dazzled in a way that even the squad's top executives could not have predicted. The lefty was in command from the start, keeping his pitch count low through seven strong innings. In total, the North Siders conceded a stingy four hits to Arizona, a dangerous Arizona lineup. Despite a career day from Ian Happ, they only pushed across two runs, but that was more than enough. Ben Brown closed it out with two sparkling innings of relief. A win in the Sunday finale saw Nico Hoerner and his squad climb to 10 games above .500 for the first time this season. After an injury scare in the first contest of the series, Hoerner helped his squad get things going early with his now trademark table-setting. A bases-clearing triple from Michael Busch made this meeting look like a laugher on a day where the North Siders got key contributions from virtually all of their usual suspects. Hoby Milner looked sharp out of the bullpen, but a sluggish start to the 9th inning for Corbin Martin caused a brief scare on an otherwise quiet day. Martin recovered nicely, helping the home team secure the victory�their 11th straight at the Friendly Confines. The win put Chicago two games up in the division, and was their third sweep in the last five series. Up next, the Cubs stay right at home, kicking off a four-game set with the young, dynamic Cincinnati Reds. Led by the electric Elly De La Cruz, the Reds offer a new test. Chicago ought to count itself lucky that it gets this beefy contest at home, with the rotation lined up nicely for the North Siders. This is their first opportunity to both build a significant lead in the division, and send a message to the other major contenders around the league. View full article

Image courtesy of © William Liang-Imagn Images Fair or not, the 2026 version of the Chicago Cubs came preloaded with comparisons to the revered 2016 World Series championship club, as the 10th anniversary of their historic accomplishment arrived. The frustrations of the opening weeks of this season made any real comparison between the two versions of the team feel a bit blasphemous. If that felt like an overreaction, though, you were right, as the club has started to look more like the division-winning, postseason-destined outfit they hoped to be. This past week, in myriad ways, they rewarded those who were holding out hope. The Chicago Cubs kicked off the week at 1060 W. Addison, welcoming the Phillies to town for a four-game set. Just a week before that, Craig Counsell's squad took two out of three from this same powerful, yet underachieving, Philadelphia ball club. Crafty depth starter Colin Rea toed the rubber for the North Siders, squaring off with Aaron Nola. Rea's steady hand has helped right the ship for a battered pitching staff that continues to navigate its way through numerous injuries. The Cubs' right-handed starter dazzled through 6 2/3 innings of one-run baseball. The home team used a four-run second inning, highlighted by a three-run bomb from Dansby Swanson, to give them all they needed in a 5-1 victory. Over the course of their 10-game win streak, the Cubs clocked a team ERA of 2.65, and that was in no small part due to the determined, resurgent Shota Imanaga. He was sensational in Game 2 of the Phillies series, surrendering just three hits over seven sparkling innings. Meanwhile, the offense stayed in rhythm, getting key contributions from Nico Hoerner, Seiya Suzuki, and Michael Busch, the latter of whom is ramping up his efficiency at the plate after surviving a harrowing start to the season. His club locked down a 7-4 win and nothing worse than a split in the series. Fresh off the injured list, Matthew Boyd got the nod in Game 3, with their sights set on a third straight series win. While not his sharpest stuff, Boyd got his sea legs back under him, delivering 4 2/3 innings and striking out five. The bullpen slammed the door on this typically imposing lineup. Ben Brown's poise and confidence continued to grow with a solid, scoreless 2 1/3-inning appearance. Chicago maintained its offensive consistency, scoring in four of the first five innings. A three-hit day from third baseman Alex Bregman cemented his arrival as one of the lineup's most trusted sources of production. Securing their second consecutive series sweep, the Cubs got away with a wild extra-innings victory on getaway day. Edward Cabrera, the squad's exciting, hard-throwing new starting pitcher, grinded through seven innings, earning his 500th career strikeout despite a rather pedestrian six-hit performance. While the offense was certainly instrumental in delivering a ninth straight win for the ball club, it was an awe-inspiring outing from the bullpen late in the game that really set the stage for the club's dramatic win. Dansby Swanson tallied his first walk-off hit in a Cubs uniform. With the bases loaded and only one out, Swanson drilled one to right-center. Not only did the "8-7 in 10" triumph evoke even more fond 2016 memories, but it delighted fans who got to witness Clark the Cub brandishing a broom atop the iconic centerfield scoreboard. With the squad landing in Los Angeles, the chatter of a potential Cubs-Dodgers NLCS later this year grew to deafening levels. The Dodgers, despite currently sitting behind the North Siders' next opponent, the San Diego Padres, are the league's gold standard. If success against Dave Roberts's ball club is the litmus test for finding out where your club stands, then the Cubs passed with flying colors in the opener of this three-game set. Under the lights in a highly-anticipated, nationally-televised contest, they showed their talent, but also their resiliency. Using all 27 outs to their advantage, late-game heroics from Bregman and the blisteringly hot Swanson delivered the 6-4 comeback victory. Stretching the win streak to 10 proved that this team can play with the best in baseball. The Dodgers' 12-4 drubbing of the Cubs the next day proved that all good things truly must come to an end. Yet, after the locked-in Suzuki pumped a solo shot over the fence in left-center, it felt for a moment like Chicago might be immune to that saying. The home side's prolific offense, led by the generational Shohei Ohtani, was bound to get going at some point, and unfortunately, it was at the expense of extending the Cubs' streak. Explosive production from Los Angeles in the fourth and sixth innings put them in the driver's seat, and they cruised to victory on an uncharacteristically poor night for Rea and Javier Assad. Opposite a team like the Dodgers, it's tough to say that the North Siders squandered their chance at a series win, but in stranding 12 base runners on Sunday afternoon, it certainly felt like it. In his second start of the week, Imanaga lacked the luster of his previous outing, issuing three walks over 5 1/3 innings. The North Siders' 0-for-8 performance at the plate with RISP sealed the club's fate, as LA's bats stayed hot. One silver lining to take away from the contest was that the squad's battered bullpen made it back to the visitors' locker room unscathed, as it prepares to make its way down the highway to San Diego. For this Chicago Cubs ball club, the prevailing sentiment for the road ahead should be cautious optimism. While injuries have ravaged Craig Counsell's bullpen, reinforcements are on the way: Phil Maton and Daniel Palencia could get back from the IL soon. Next week, the North Siders are slated for a three-game tilt with the Padres, before returning home for their series with Corbin Carroll's Arizona Diamondbacks. The ultimate goal is still far off on the horizon, but the path to get there is starting to look smoother. View full article

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images A filthy, lockdown starting pitcher changes the fortunes and the perception of a Major League Baseball team. He can make a fringe club competitive and a contender close to unstoppable. Look no further than the likes of the back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes, or even Garrett Crochet for proof of this concept. The Chicago Cubs' lethal new starter, Edward Cabrera, with his poised control and nasty arsenal, is the next in this line of game-changing starting pitchers. Lucky for us, he plays on the North Side of Chicago. Winding the clock back to March 30 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Cabrera toed the rubber for the first time in the squad's iconic blue pinstripes. Right out of the gate, he looked the part of everything this franchise wanted when they signed him in the offseason. With a virtually unhittable changeup that touches the mid-90s, Cabrera burst onto the Wrigleyville scene, going six innings, allowing one hit, striking out five, and issuing just one free pass. In his second start, the first of a traditional doubleheader at Progressive Field opposite the Cleveland Guardians, Cabrera went another 5 2/3 innings. Though he didn't exactly pound the strike zone in this outing, he once again allowed only one hit in a 1-0 victory for this ball club. Nothing comes easy for the opposition when he's scheduled to start, and the team's adversaries are already keenly aware of that. In the early going, the Chicago Cubs were a ball club that appeared trapped in a perpetual search for offensive production. While at the time present, they seem to have orchestrated a bit of a rhythm, the lineup's shortcomings often left the starter with little to no margin for error, called upon from the outset to be a hero. Approaching his fifth start with the Chicago Cubs, Edward Cabrera's steady performances have not only kept his club moving in the right direction, but also helped buy some time for this offense to come around. Frontline pitchers like Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd hold down the front end of this rotation. Cabrera may not have attained that status yet, but what he has done is serve as the stabilizer for this rotation and this team. He's a pitcher that each opponent must plan for, knowing that the 28-year-old hurler has what it takes to greatly limit their scoring opportunities. Call it fortuitous, or call it opportunistic, but after kicking the tires on Cabrera a year ago, the Cubs finally swallowed their medicine and paid the hefty price of his services. As the season nears the completion of its first full month, the former Marlin has been more than worth it. The buzz around him at first centered around his ability to make batters swing and miss. With seventeen punchouts tallied thus far, he's done just that. Cabrera mows down batters because he often frustrates them. When the opposing lineup does, in fact, make contact, it hasn't yielded the best results. According to Baseball Savant, Cubs' opponents are whiffing with incredible frequency when facing the right-hander, swinging through more than 27% of their hacks. You might not know it yet, but Edward Cabrera is the next big thing at Wrigley Field. He might not have arrived in town with the type of "brand-name" recognition other have, but what he possesses is the same: talent, confidence, and untapped potential. He's armed Tommy Hottovy and his staff with an exciting young competitor who embodies everything it means to be a Chicago Cub. View full article

Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-Imagn Images You could call the Cubs' rash of injury troubles a bug, but lately, that feels insufficient. With the club's fiery closer Daniel Palencia the latest to go down with an oblique strain, the "bug" this squad is up against is more akin to one of Godzilla's adversaries than a gnat you swat away while waiting for the Purple Line. Fortunately, there have been signs of lift from the sleeping giant that was the Cubs' offense over the first two-plus weeks. With Javier Assad taking the ball for the Cubs in the first of their three-game set versus the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park last week, the lineup awoke. The Cubs scratched seven runs across the plate in that contest. The trouble is, the home team tallied 13. Craig Counsell's pitching staff labored, surrendering runs to Philadelphia in all but two innings. Former Cubs hero Kyle Schwarber had no hesitation in making life difficult for his former squad, launching a three-run homer that set the tone early. As Schwarber well knows, success is the perfect revenge, and the North Siders exacted theirs in the middle game of the series. Chicago erased an early 3-0 deficit on the strength of a balanced offensive output from the visitors—especially Nico Hoerner and Carson Kelly, who combined for six RBIs. Hoerner, with his consistently elite play at both the plate and second base, is the clear leader of this club and the driving force behind his team's recent success. Suddenly needed to be something like an ace again, Shota Imanaga is either on the cusp of his 2024 All-Star form or already there. It's not that he doesn't surrender the long ball anymore, like the solo shot he gave up early to Trea Turner in the rubber game of last week's set, but his penchant for recovery is impressive. He takes any blemish personally. Imanaga went on to tie a career-high in strikeouts, with 11 of them over six solid innings. The Cubs used four scoring innings, showing both power and situational hitting. Hoerner racked up 5 RBIs with a 3-for-5 day at the plate. Matt Shaw, who has been on an upward trajectory, enjoyed his best offensive day of the year with a 3-for-4 outing, collecting three doubles. It was the rare case this season in which the offense not only rolled, but the Cubs also were terrific defensively, allowing virtually zero meaningful scoring opportunities for the Phillies. The 11-2 romp earned the North Siders an impressive series win on the road. The team rode that wave back to Wrigley Field, for a weekend set against the Mets. Edward Cabrera took the bump for his fourth start as a Cub. His teammates plated four runs in the opening frame, giving him some margin for error. Moisés Ballesteros and Hoerner both homered in an easy 12-4 win to open a seven-game homestand. Their loss Friday was the Mets' ninth in a row; they're often beating themselves. With Freddy Peralta returning to Wrigley Field—a place that became his personal house of horrors in October 2025—that trend didn't change. Even though the Cubs only took this contest by a 4-2 score, it's how they did it that made spectators take note. Ian Happ's solo homer off of his old adversary sparked the home crowd, but it was Kelly's pinch-hit, three-run blast in a tie game in the sixth inning that got the party started in earnest. Having already secured the series win, the North Siders took the field Sunday in search of their first sweep of the 2026 regular season. In the eleventh hour, they found it. Bouncing back from a laborious start earlier in the week, Javier Assad cruised through the first third of the game with relative ease. A solo shot from the Mets' MJ Melendez was the only disruption to what was otherwise a dominant showing from Assad. Though held scoreless through the first eight innings of this contest, the North Siders frequently put runners on base, most notably via a leadoff triple from Pete Crow-Armstrong to kick off the third. Pinch-hitting in the bottom of the ninth inning, Michael Conforto laced a double into the corner in deep right field, scoring pinch-runner Scott Kingery to tie the game against another former divisional foe, Devin Williams. A gutsy 10th-inning relief appearance from newly-minted closer Caleb Thielbar set the stage for the home team to deliver walk-off magic. With one out and the zombie runner Crow-Armstrong standing 90 feet away, Hoerner came through with a game-winning sacrifice fly. The dramatic finish not only marked the club's fifth straight win, but vaulted them three games over .500 and out of the cellar of the National League Central. Good teams find ways to win. At the outset of a four-game series with the Phillies at Wrigley, this feels like a good team, despite its many injury issues. They've benefited from some good luck and they've beaten themselves once or twice this year, but after a tough start, they're finding their groove a bit. If they can survive the pitching crisis and get their key hitters out of early funks, they'll really be on to something. View full article

Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-Imagn Images I hate cliches, except for when they're true. Especially in the sports world, one hears the phrase "all hands on deck" so often that it starts to lose its meaning. Phrases like this are deployed by their users almost like a blanket defense mechanism to explain the unexplainable. Even for a franchise like the Chicago Cubs, with a checkered history of curses, their current injury conundrum is truly astonishing. With Porter Hodge now out for the season with a UCL injury, the total numbers of pitchers injured on the North Siders' roster is nine, and that doesn't even include the injury recently sustained by top prospect Jaxon Wiggins in Iowa. With that, the onus is on this club's offense, now more than ever, to give the team's battered pitching staff some leeway. The lineup has finally found a bit of consistency — they've scored 35 runs in their past four games — but the output for the whole season has been lacking. Few people have been reliable, but former Dodger Michael Conforto had looked particularly lost at the plate, until now. Conforto only got two pinch-hit plate appearances in the Phillies series (he struck out in both), but he's otherwise been excellent of late. Even when accounting for his slow start, Conforto wields a wRC+ of 137, and just last week, went 5-12 at the plate with two walks. Is his surge sustainable? Possibly, though his .500 BABIP mark is terrifying. Prior to a weekend series against his old team (the New York Mets), Conforto carries with him a .273 batting average with six hits in 28 plate appearances. For his career, the Cubs' backup outfielder has a .245 batting average with an OBP of .343 and just a shade under 600 RBIs. The moral of the story is that Conforto has arrived in Chicago and produced something akin to what he's put out for his eleven years in the league and counting. Perhaps his consistency, however unremarkable the overall output may be, is the reason why Jed Hoyer and the Chicago Cubs braintrust brought him on in the first place. In the North Siders' previous three wins, they've scored seven or more runs in every game. To the untrained or even the trained eye, this club's hitting comes in waves. When Conforto was down, the rest of the club, outside of Nico Hoerner, was as well. This is not an excuse, nor a justification for the Cubs' sluggish and maddening start, but it describes a significant sign one can point to in analyzing their offensive woes. That Conforto has looked less the part of "PCA" and more like "DFA" doesn't really matter because he's not called upon to do nearly as much as this club's featured players. If you've followed my work here in recent years, you know I'm hesitant to write anyone off. It's my goal to find the positives with this ball club, unless there aren't any. Like everything else, however, this approach has its limits. If a guy just isn't any good, I'm the first to point it out. Michael Conforto is a player who exists outside of these confines. He isn't all that bad, nor is his presence in the lineup on any given night the glaring liability once feared. As the success of this baseball club hopefully grows into something worth remembering, so too will the prosperity and production of Conforto. View full article

Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-Imagn Images However hard it is to keep a good team down, it's even harder for said good team to find itself in a groove. With eight current big leaguers on the Chicago Cubs' roster currently on the IL, Lady Luck has been less than kind to Craig Counsell's ball club in the early going. With Cade Horton out for the season and the return dates of both Matthew Boyd and Justin Steele unknown, the depth of Jed Hoyer's club is being tested in ways no one expected. Adversity finds its way into most MLB clubhouses, but after already having encountered more than their fair share, how the North Siders respond now will say much about where their season goes from here. Said North Siders started their week in St. Petersburg, Florida, playing the role of visitors at Tropicana Field, which hosted its first game since 2024, when the ballpark sustained severe damage in Hurricane Milton. As has often been the case, Cubbies starter Jameson Taillon struggled early, surrendering four runs across the second and third innings. The Cubs collected four runs on four hits, unable to generate any real traffic on the bases. They dropped the series opener to the Rays 6-4. Chicago has yet to produce much in the way of what ought to be the right formula for offensive production in this first full month of the season. Be that as it may, the bats hummed, rattled, and shook themselves awake in the second of three contests versus Tampa Bay. The squad swung the bats with the level of ease and confidence it would need to climb the ranks of its division. The offensive outburst was anchored by Alex Bregman and Pete Crow-Armstrong, who connected on his first home run of the 2026 campaign. Despite Crow-Armstrong's frustrations at the plate, he's provided tangible evidence that he might return to his 2025 form sometime in the near future. Building on their success from the previous outing, the North Siders took the series against the Rays in a convincing yet cathartic fashion. Filling in as a starter for Counsell's depleted rotation, Colin Rea hurled a valiant five innings, keeping the Rays honest by recovering from two walks given up. Quietly ascending as a leader on this ball club, Nico Hoerner delivered clutch knocks for his squad, including his first big fly of the young season. Dating back to last year, few starting pitchers in the majors needed a "get right" game more than the squad's enigmatic lefty Shota Imanaga. And boy did he get it. Over the course of several starts, Imanaga had started to garner a reputation for giving up home runs early in contests, putting his squad behind the proverbial "hole" before they're able to get off the ground. Adjustments in his release from the mound seem to have shored up his mechanical issues. Imanaga dazzled, going six no-hit innings opposite the Pittsburgh Pirates. Alas, his pitch count was too great for him to continue his pursuit of history in this contest, giving way to reliever Caleb Thielbar. In circumstances such as this one, thinking about what's unfolding, let alone speaking of it, can disrupt the order established by the baseball gods. Almost on cue, Thielbar labored, allowing the Bucs leadoff runner aboard before surrendering a homer to Jason Reynolds. In one swing of the bat, Imanaga's Herculean effort on the mound was reduced to a footnote as his squad's offense once again could not come through in the clutch in a 2-0 loss. The 150-year-old baseball team known as the Chicago Cubs is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its iconic 2016 World Series championship squad. The exhilarated milestone is being commemorated in a myriad of ways, including the return of key players like Ben Zobrist. The vibes around Wrigley were as electric as the energy emanating from the Aon Center, with one of its most cherished heroes returning to the city that made him a legend. Sadly, while the fans safely secured their Zobrist bobbleheads, the Cubs were unable to rally back from an early 3-0 deficit. A desperate, ninth-inning rally knotted things up versus the Pirates, giving the folks at 1060 West Addison free baseball. Squandering multiple opportunities to complete the dramatic comeback, a throwing error on a slow roller back to the mound afforded the Pirates the chance to plate what would become the game and series-winning run. The North Siders fell 4-3 in eleven innings. For so many of us, in multiple arenas in life, getting out of our own way is the hardest thing to do. This truism rang true for starter Jameson Taillon, who bookended one uninspiring start earlier in the week with another. The veteran hurler saddled his squad with an early 5-0 mountain to climb. Though he went on to settle in and fan 10 Pittsburgh batters, Taillon's performance deflated the spirits of a home crowd clad in their finest summer attire. All signs in this game pointed to a would-be sweep, the first at Wrigley Field since 2019. This admirable club, which is full of potential, had other plans, however. Entering the eighth inning as a pinch hitter, Michael Busch stepped up to the plate, toting around a woeful 0-30 stretch to start the season. The clouds lifted when he put a bloop single into center field, knotting the game up on the strength of some superb base running. Daniel Palencia blanked the Buccos in the ninth, setting the stage for Carson Kelly's walk-off knock to the center field warning track. Though the victory merely salvaged one game of the three-game set, the heroics of the comeback for the Cubbies symbolized a shift in tenor for a team that was visibly disturbed and pushing too hard to manifest its expected results. Having lifted the clouds from what could have been a sobering sweep at home, the Cubs now look to establish some momentum as they travel to Citizens Bank Field to do battle with the Phillies for three games. Consistency will be the key for this lineup as it seeks the rhythm necessary to play sustainable, winning baseball. With spirits lifted from the energizing victory over a division foe, this next series in Philadelphia affords this Cubs squad the chance to get its record above the .500 mark for the first time in 2026. Before the season, that would not have sounded like much, but with the club laboring out of the gate, it would be a sign of good things to come. View full article

Image courtesy of © David Richard-Imagn Images It's a Friday, 1:20 start at Wrigley Field, the outfield ivy has yet to grow in, showing its exposed brick. Scanning your surroundings, you look around, your eyes greeted by thousands of jerseys of red, white, and blue, with the number "4" on the back. The Chicago Cubs' young, would-be superstar has started to capture the imaginations of supporters of North Side baseball in a way few others have since the curse-breaking 2016 squad still reigned over Wrigleyville. Though he's not yet cemented himself as one of the current greats of the game, or certainly the franchise, Pete Crow-Armstrong has not only the raw potential but also the attitude to forge a Cubs legacy unlike any other. There is a distinct line of delineation between the kind of player Crow-Armstrong is now and superstardom. In fact, our very own Matt Trueblood recently penned a terrific piece centered around what that line looks like. In the piece, Trueblood delves into the aggressive free-swinging nature of Crow-Armstrong, citing that, across all levels of competition the center fieldeer has faced so far in 2026, he has swung at 55.3% of the pitches he's seen. Accounting for the absence of a World Baseball Classic in 2025, that figure is down from 60% a year ago. Crow-Armstrong is a hyper-aggressive swinger who understands the value of jumping all over the opposition early and often. He became a 30/30 player because of his readiness and all-around approach in each at-bat. He's a player with unexpected power and an insatiable obsession with inflicting pain on the opposition. Those pain-inflicting results haven't quite come in 2026 just yet, nor have they for any of the squad's biggest boppers. The combined batting average of the Cubs' regular top four in the lineup, consisting of Ian Happ, Michael Busch, Alex Bregman, and Crow-Armstrong, is just .194 ten games into the season. One could both hope for and count on that alarming figure ticking up in the near future. And Crow-Armstrong's inevitable breakout will likely be the catalyst that changes everything. Crow-Armstrong fits the identity and tenor of this team and city because he never wants to fall short. His talent is matched by his intensity, and it often manifests in the pure emotion he spills out onto the field. Recently, in a win against the Angels, Ian Happ and Alex Bregman sent back-to-back homers into the iconic Wrigley bleachers. Then, it was Crow-Armstrong's turn. He yearned so badly to make it three in a row that he nearly swung out of his cleats at the first pitch he saw. No, he didn't go yard, but the intent with which he plays, and his love for the team and the city from which they hail, make him the most important player in Cubby pinstripes. Since the 2021 exodus of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Javier Baez, the Chicago Cubs have felt more like a collection of players, rather than a cohesive core team with one collective mission, until now. When Cody Bellinger was a Cub, the city desperately wanted to ignite a love affair with the enigmatic power lefty. The only trouble was, he didn't reciprocate that desire. Bellinger's time in Wrigleyville was spent with one eye on his bank account and the other on the next best thing. It never really felt like he was the leader of the next wave of Chicago legends. With his endearing personality, famous approachability, and competitive edge, Crow-Armstrong couldn't be farther from Bellinger's archetype. Along with his fellow extended teammate, Nico Hoerner, Crow-Armstrong embraces the role of being a Chicagoan, and in reality, lives a lifestyle that citizens from all corners of Cook County would pine for. Without overstepping my bounds here, Crow-Armstrong and Hoerner have at least the blueprint to become the best offensive tandem at Wrigley since "Bryzzo". Debate that idea all you want, but the top brass wanted Crow-Armstrong here for a reason. Perhaps, the crux of that reason is that Jed Hoyer, Carter Hawkins, and the rest of the front office in Chicago knew that he was the face of this squad's new core. This team, as it stands, possesses the foundation to make a run at the World Series. If that dream should be realized, Crow-Armstrong will lead them to that end. View full article