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Image courtesy of © David Richard-Imagn Images The first full week of the season started on such a hopeful note. Cubs fans got their first look at Edward Cabrera in blue pinstripes, and he did not disappoint. Using a nasty mix of stuff, Cabrera danced through six innings of one-hit ball and struck out five. The offense produced when it was necessary, including a home run from Ian Happ and RBI knocks from Dansby Swanson and Carson Kelly. It was more than enough to keep a distance between them and the visiting Angels in the opener of their three-game series. Alas: it was practically all downhill from there. Tuesday night's contest highlighted the home side's early offensive struggles. Jameson Taillon kept the Angels off the board in his 4 2/3 innings of work, but the Cubs only mustered four total hits on a cold night, facing the hot heat of José Soriano. No major-league team—even one in the upper echelon—is immune to a slow start. The expectations for this Chicago Cubs team were so high going into the season, however, that the frustrations associated with the club's collective slump were magnified. Hoping to regroup from a sluggish Opening Day start, veteran Matthew Boyd took the hill for the rubber match of the final game of the Cubs' season-opening homestand. Boyd looked much sharper in his second outing of the year, going nearly six innings and racking up 10 strikeouts. On the opposite side of the ledger, the North Siders plated six runs on 10 hits, offering a small preview of what their offense could look like when things are clicking. A fabulous day of pitching secured the club's first series win of the 2026 campaign. In a year celebrating the 10th anniversary of the team's World Series championship, the Cubs next returned to the place where it all went down: Cleveland, Ohio. The faces, fortunes, and even one of the team's names are quite different than what they were then, but the series still felt important. For one thing, it was Cleveland's home opener, so the set kicked off with some pageantry. For another, the Cubs needed to find some rhythm, and narratively, Cleveland felt like the right place to do it. Game one pitted staff ace Cade Horton of the Cubs against the Guardians' Joey Cantillo. The game glided uneventfully into the bottom of the second inning; that's when disaster struck. Horton saw his velocity sag, then left the game with forearm discomfort. He was immediately placed on the 15-day injured list, and now, it's breath-holding time until a full diagnosis of the issue is revealed. Colin Rea did yeoman's work in Horton's stead, but the Cubs dropped the game due a bullpen blowup. A Midwestern squall Saturday set up a true doubleheader at Progressive Field on Easter Sunday. Swapping the order of starters from the first turn of the rotation, the Cubs trotted out the electric Cabrera for the first contest. In almost 12 innings pitched as a Cub, Cabrera has surrendered just two hits and no runs, after shutting out Cleveland for 5 2/3 frames Sunday. The movement on his breaking pitches is devastating, and the energy he's brought in the early going is infectious. His performance led the team to a 1-0 win. The second game offered the North Siders the chance to raise their record above the .500 mark for the first time this season. It was an opportunity squandered. Shota Imanaga took the bump, and fared nicely in the face of mounting concerns over his penchant for surrendering the long ball. The Pitching Philosopher pitched five relatively strong innings and was charged with one earned run. To a degree, the Cubs' bats came to life, with home runs from Matt Shaw, Dansby Swanson, and Ian Happ. Their 3-0 lead held up until another lackluster appearance from Ben Brown, and another late collapse, this time by second-tier reliever Jacob Webb. Some of the club's regular boppers made it interesting late, bringing Carson Kelly to the dish down one with two runners in scoring position. A strikeout ended the game, though, giving Cleveland the series win as the Cubs head to St. Petersburg for their date with the Rays. Through the first week or so, the Cubs have shown glimpses of their upside, but they're in some immediate trouble. Injuries aside, this is far from a complete team. Chicago starts this week 4-5, looking up at all of their division rivals. The season isn't out of control just yet, but if you enter the season hoping to topple a team with three straight division titles in the bag, spotting them a three-game lead (while losing your ace, be it for a short time or a long one) is a poor way to go about it. It was a bad week; the Cubs need this to be a good one. The stakes might be highest off the field, though, as they await news on Horton. View full article

Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-Imagn Images As scores of revelers lined the streets of Wrigleyville in celebration of the arrival of another highly anticipated Chicago Cubs Opening Day, members of the team showed up at the player arrival entry on Waveland Avenue, prepared to go to work. Now, you're right to point out that even the most beloved individuals on this squad, such as Ian Happ and Pete Crow-Armstrong, don't technically "go to work"; they play a game. But, if the club is to reach some of its loftier goals for the year, they're going to have to treat the game like the most important job they've ever had. This squad, when healthy, aims to be one of the most fearsome in the majors. Notably, they are not healthy at the moment; though he'll be starting his rehab assignment soon, slugging outfielder Seiya Suzuki is still nursing his knee injury suffered in the World Baseball Classic. With the type of depth this club has, one would think that'd be enough to thwart Blake Butera's Nationals squad, especially with 2025 All-Star Matthew Boyd toeing the rubber, but it was not. The North Siders scattered eight hits and scraped only four runs across the plate. The Nats used a six-run fourth inning to take control of a contest that featured all kinds of hard contact. Cade Horton, one of the top-three leading vote getters in the 2025 Rookie of the Year race, looked the part of a Cy Young in his first start of the campaign against Washington. Horton heard deafening cheers through the first few innings, using an electric mix of his four-seam fastball and changeup to keep Nats hitters off balance. He surrendered just four hits in his 6.1 innings of work. While Horton impressed, the Cubs' offense came to life, once again jumping all over starter Miles Mikolas. Crow-Armstrong and Nico Hoerner combined for three stolen bases, and the action was punctuated by homers from Ian Happ and Miguel Amaya, who continues his surprising ascent from last season. In the series' finales versus Washington, the Chicago Cubs collected four total hits, two of which were Alex Bregman's first and second home runs in the home pinstripes. Stop me if you've heard this one before, but after striking out the first two batters of the ball game, starter Shota Imanaga couldn't get out of the first inning, giving up a three-run blast to known Cub killer Joey Wiemer. Given both what Imanaga once was and due to the nature of his contract for this year, which will earn him $20 million, the North Siders must figure out a way to get Imanaga back to something resembling All-Star form. Up next, Craig Counsell's squad welcomes another mid-tier club, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, into the Friendly Confines for a three-game set. All eyes will be on the opening contest of this series as it will feature Edward Cabrera's first start in a Cub uniform. He has the opportunity to not only use his introduction as a means of proving the front office right for signing him, but most importantly, get his squad a tally in the win column. View full article

Image courtesy of © Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images The promise of Opening Day at Wrigley Field holds an air of romance that few other spring rituals can. The North Siders are back in Chicago, ready to do battle this Thursday with the Washington Nationals. As camp broke in Arizona, Craig Counsell's crew continued to set its Opening Day roster, with Moisés Ballesteros, Michael Conforto and Ben Brown getting good news. Despite the decidedly deflating absence of the right fielder Seiya Suzuki at the outset of the season, the Cubs still feature an envious lineup, with Michael Busch, Alex Bregman, and Pete Crow-Armstrong joining Ballesteros, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner in anchoring the batting order. Suzuki's absence will put some pressure on the remaining regulars, but it also creates early opportunities for Conforto and Matt Shaw to have an impact. Over the next day or two, we'll find out which two players will round out the bench, with Dylan Carlson and Kevin Alcántara seemingly having the inside track—barring a late trade. Matthew Boyd is set to take the bump for the squad's opener against the Nationals. After that, an expected starting rotation of Cade Horton, Shota Imanaga, Edward Cabrera, and Jameson Taillon will toe the rubber for Chicago to begin the season. Cabrera, in particular, brings much-needed swing-and-miss to this rotation, and that trend has held up through spring camp. The pieces for success are certainly in place for this rotation. They will depend largely on sustaining health and keeping the return of lefty Justin Steele on schedule to bolster an incredibly deep starting pitching corps. Because the hoped-for fivesome is intact so far, Javier Assad is heading for Iowa, while Ben Brown got the final spot in the bullpen. It's so close, now, you can smell it. The Cubs are on the hunt for their first full-season division title since 2017. The task is a tall one, but they have the wherewithal to complete it. All that's left is to play the games. View full article

Image courtesy of © Sam Navarro-Imagn Images It was all going so well. Before Venezuela ousted Samurai Japan Saturday night, Seiya Suzuki went 3-for-10 in the World Baseball Classic, with a homer and a double. He played center field, batted near the top of the order, and drew six walks, while striking out just once. Then, in a nightmarish turn for the Cubs, he seemed to twist or jam his knee as he went into a slide on a stolen-base attempt, and limped off the field in the first inning of Japan's eventual loss. Even as he returns to Arizona, the question looms: If he's out for an extended period, who will take his place as the team's regular right fielder? The most obvious candidate is Matt Shaw. Displaced from third base, Shaw has responded well to the challenge of playing the outfield this spring, and his stance and swing seem to have undergone another round of adjustments. His numbers last year weren't pretty, and he's certainly not the hitter Suzuki is, but as he works past some of the consequences of having been rushed to the majors, he might be ready to handle a bat-first everyday job. We don't yet know whether Suzuki will miss any time, though, and even if he does, it's most likely that some combination of Shaw, Michael Conforto, Chas McCormick, Dylan Carlson and/or Kevin Alcántara will fill the gap, rather than that any one of them will take all the playing time. With up to nine potential starting pitchers on the roster, few major-league teams have more pitching depth at the ready. One hurler whose role is still not quite clear, however, is Ben Brown. While the youngster continues developing a stronger arsenal (with greater dedication to his sinker and changeup than in the past), he's locked in on the mound in Mesa. He's posted a 3.38 ERA in 10 2/3 innings and has struck out 33.3% of the batters he's faced. He could be ticketed for a starting job in Iowa, or a bullpen job in Chicago—although he sounds like a man on a mission to earn a big-league rotation spot. There's nothing good about an injury to anyone on the roster, especially to one so instrumental to their success. Hopefully, Suzuki's balky knee calms down quickly. For now, though, the team's problems are in balance with its reasons for optimism. Setbacks are a part of the game, but the Cubs are well-equipped to handle them. View full article

Image courtesy of © Troy Taormina-Imagn Images The Cubs delegation to the World Baseball Classic has represented the team admirably. Pool play eliminated Novena México, but that was no fault of Javier Assad, who pitched eight solid innings for them. Meanwhile, Daniel Palencia, Alex Bregman and Matthew Boyd went along for the ride as Team Venezuela and Team USA advanced—and Pete Crow-Armstrong did something more akin to dragging the United States through to the quarterfinals, going 3-for-10 with two walks, two home runs and a double. Though the U.S. squad was almost ousted, it was Crow-Armstrong's two homers that enlivened the team late in their lone loss of the round, to Team Italy. Because of his heroics, they were safe from elimination by the midpoint of the next day's game between México and Italy. A sputtering second half last season had the baseball world wondering whether Crow-Armstrong could really sustain what he flashed in the first half of 2025. Those questions aren't answered, but he's been thoroughly impressive. For a short time, Jaxon Wiggins was the talk of Cubs camp back in Mesa. He was never going to start the season with the parent club, though, so it was no surprise when he, Justin Dean, Luke Little and Ryan Rolison were optioned to the minors (or, in Wiggins's case, simply returned to minor-league camp). Those moves did begin to tighten the scope of battles for the team's final roster spots, and those four players can now turn their attention to being ready when an opportunity arises for them later this year. Despite a shaky appearance in the World Baseball Classic, Matthew Boyd earned Counsell's nod as the starting pitcher when the Cubs begin their season on Mar. 26, against the Nationals. Opting for the coveted Opening Day start, Boyd turned down an extended run into the WBC and has returned to Arizona. In a deep rotation with a couple of more electric arms, Boyd nonetheless won Counsell's trust, thanks to his steady performance last season. Cubs camp hasn't been especially buzzy this spring, because the team feels mature, and complete. As the regular season draws near, though, it's getting easier to feel the excitement. Once the games count, the talent of this team will begin to spur more energy—and more anxiety. View full article

Image courtesy of © Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images While the progress continues for the Chicago Cubs at their Arizona home, the much-anticipated World Baseball Classic is off and running in Tokyo, Japan. Last season, a different-look Cubs squad commenced their regular season in the same venue opposite the vaunted Los Angeles Dodgers. The Tokyo Dome is playing host to some of the game's best, including standouts from your North Side ball club. Fans of this baseball team want a lot out of its stars, especially newbie Alex Bregman, and de facto squad leader Pete Crow-Armstrong. Both have been electric so far in the international tournament. During two recent exhibition tilts versus big league clubs, Bregman drilled two no-doubt home runs, igniting the hopes of Red Line riders across the city of Chicago. Elsewhere, Crow-Armstrong looks as good as ever, both at the plate and patrolling center field for the American squad in the WBC. To this point, Crow-Armstrong looks like he's in mid-season form. In terms of rumors surrounding the franchise, it's hard to ignore what's going on in left field. Veteran Ian Happ is synonymous with the Chicago Cubs franchise. A true lifer in this organization, Happ is a tremendous ambassador for the city, but as he volunteered, his time in the blue pinstripes may soon be drawing to an end. "It’s been a true honor for me to represent this great city, organization, and fan base," Happ said. "The reality of this is, you can’t control if the team wants you back. It's totally plausible another chapter elsewhere awaits me." During his nine years with the North Siders, Happ famously stipulated a no-trade clause on his contract, but with a crowded list of prospects ready for opportunities in left field, it appears Chicago is ready to move on from the Gold Glover, now that he's on the wrong side of 30. Of the myriad pleasant surprises from the Cubbies' 2025 campaign, the arrival of Moises Ballesteros was arguably the most pleasing. With a .394 OBP, "Mo Baller" came through in key situations during his club's playoff push. As an encore, Ballesteros, 22, looks to deliver more behind the plate and "prove people wrong," as to the extent of his capabilities. Soon, music will blare from the rooftops up and down Sheffield Avenue and the surrounding areas near the Cubs' home of Wrigley Field. There are no awards handed out for who can practice the best, but the improvements and implications of the North Siders' performances this spring prove that many coveted accolades could come in time. View full article

Image courtesy of © Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images Stop me if you've heard this one before, but the Chicago Cubs are once again battling the injury bug. Earlier this week, news broke from the club's spring training home in Mesa, Arizona, that the squad's newly acquired backup first baseman, Tyler Austin, suffered an injury to his knee. The injury will require the veteran to undergo surgery, and forecasts have him set for a return no earlier than late May. With this setback, the Cubs encountered their first real speed bump on the road to what they hope is a division title and a long playoff run. Depth at first is quite sparse for the North Siders at the moment, and as such, the club is getting looks at several options, including catchers Christian Bethancourt and Miguel Amaya. Bethancourt last spent time with the squad in 2024, when he held his own as a bench option at catcher with a .301 OBP. Changes to his swing mechanics seemingly changed what Amaya can bring to this ball club. Before injury curtailed his 2025 season, Amaya had 27 hits in 96 at-bats and an OPS+ of 131. He's quietly becoming a fan favorite, and his abilities at the plate and his potential to fill in at first base could help his club make noise—if he, himself, can stay on the field better this season. Rather than counting on Bethancourt or Amaya at first, though, Chicago will leave no stone unturned at forming a contingency plan for every position on the diamond. Certainly, bringing on former Dodger Michael Conforto on a minor-league deal is evidence of this. It should make one feel a stronger sense of security in the team's outlook; they've tried to create the depth needed to survive this kind of injury. There are times when it feels as though sports fans in the modern age get more enjoyment from overreacting than from the actual play on the field. This is no time for overreactions. At a minimum, the actions of the franchise this past offseason have demonstrated that when they break camp in late March, each individual who makes the final cut will be ready. Austin's loss poses some challenges, but Counsell is one of the highest-paid managers ever for a reason, and the team has enough fallback plans to survive without one piece of their would-be bench corps. View full article

Image courtesy of © Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images When Craig Counsell's squad lost Justin Steele to elbow surgery last April, the North Siders found ways to get by. The ascensions of veteran Matthew Boyd and then rookie Cade Horton to All-Star/Cy Young-caliber levels rescued the team's season. While Steele was forced to spend much of the season rehabbing and won't even return to the mound right away this spring, his club collected a cathartic playoff berth and a run that cracked open a new World Series window. The team's hurlers stepped up in a way that decreased the urgency for the return of their All-Star lefty. Like a Chicagoan who gets acclimated to keeping an extra pair of gloves around in the winter, the club built out pitching depth this winter, knowing they might not get Steele back until midsummer. But with his progress remaining ahead of schedule even into spring training, Steele looks poised to deliver key upside and better volume than previously hoped. In case you forgot, here's a refresher on what a Cubs rotation with Steele might look like. The North Siders' 30-year-old lefty has 517 career strikeouts, but over half of those came during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Though he lacks the deep arsenal and the overpowering velocity of most frontline starters, his hard, cutting heater and endlessly manipulable slider proved good enough to put him in that echelon. In 2023, he put it all together, achieving his most impressive results with a record of 16-5 and an ERA of just 3.07. Had his club not sputtered down the stretch that year, those numbers would have looked even better. Fast-forwarding to the quickly approaching 2026 season, Steele could re-enter a rotation that, with the addition of Edward Cabrera, creates more swing-and-miss than they've generated in years. Steele's pinpoint accuracy would richly supplement the formula this pitching staff has in place. Chicago is a club that thrives on veteran leadership from stars like Ian Happ, Dansby Swanson, and Jameson Taillon. The wise-beyond-his-years Steele brings an additional intangible layer of fire and morale to the clubhouse the moment he walks in the building. Beyond that, however, his return reduces the urgency for his teammates to deal on the mound, just as the depth of this staff should take some pressure off of Steele's shoulders once he returns. Opening Day at Wrigley is just under four weeks away, which has excitement for baseball on the North Side reaching its crescendo. In the past several weeks and months, we here at North Side Baseball have laid out a plethora of reasons to justify your excitement. But the return of Steele brings about something more than excitement; it brings comfort. Not only is he one of our own, but he's a catalyst in the engine that makes this squad run. Once he starts to toe the rubber once more, the Cubs will really be firing on all cylinders. View full article

Image courtesy of © Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images Seeing as the 2026 World Series will mark the 10-year anniversary of that championship, I don't feel it is a stretch to say that most of us would love to skip ahead to March 26 when the 150th version of this squad hosts the Washington Nationals on Opening Day. Lest one of you fine readers be Marty McFly, we are required to wait it out here in the present, but this past week alone, the club gave its faithful a lot to be excited about. Now, while fans of the city's North Side ball club don't need to line up for their Ben Zobrist bobbleheads quite yet, they certainly are recognizing both the work and the tone being set down in Mesa, Arizona. Since the outset of spring training, no one has put in more work than the Cubs' new superstar third baseman Alex Bregman. On three separate occasions recently, the veteran slugger sent cascading long flies into the dry Arizona skies during live batting practice. It was Bregman's signing in mid-January that created the most positive buzz around this club, and he's currently displaying that buzz was for good reason. He's settling in nicely and buying into the team culture as hoped. It's great to have him in the Cubs' pinstripes. This squad's pitching staff is heralded as being one of the most formidable in baseball, and a key piece of that staff, newly-acquired starter Edward Cabrera, gave his new team their first taste of what to expect from the young hurler. Cabrera established a rhythm and chemistry with catchers Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya, looking to come back strong from an injury that sidelined him in the midst of a promising 2025 season. What this squad accomplishes on the mound this year will directly inform how much success they do, in fact, attain. Off the practice fields, all eyes were on team Chairman Tom Ricketts this past week, as he spoke candidly with the media on expectations for this specific club and the franchise as a whole. It turns out, he also wants to see some success, as Ricketts expressed an explicit desire to win the division, and ultimately, yes, the World Series. His candor wasn't necessarily a heel turn; he wants to win, but he received some praise for saying the quiet part out loud in his comments. Depending on when you've clicked on this article, the Cubbies have already gotten their spring training slate underway against their Crosstown rival, the Chicago White Sox. Toeing the rubber for the North Siders in their spring opener is the underrated Jameson Taillon. The versatile righty is set to get his first meaningful reps of the year against Chicago's Southside team. Taillon went 11-7 with a 3.68 ERA in 2025. Completely letting yourself bask in a good Cubs team can be a big ask, but at this point, the club has provided plenty of convincing evidence as to why it's ok to catch a good vibe, at least for now. View full article

Image courtesy of © David Banks-Imagn Images Despite the rest of the division jockeying for pole position in the NL Central, the Chicago Cubs have one of the most lethal offenses in professional baseball, capable of setting the tone in the Senior Circuit. Michael Busch, the North Side's powerful yet underrated first baseman, impressed insiders with a scorching star turn in the late goings of his club's 2025 regular season and playoff run. We're about to get our first look at a Cubs lineup that, if it stays healthy, could be excessively difficult to get through, like the extended version of a Peter Jackson film. With the likes of Alex Bregman and Pete Crow-Armstrong holding down the middle of the lineup, Busch's early placement in Craig Counsell's lineup aligns the club for early offensive outbursts against opponents that would find themselves playing catch-up, looking on as the North Siders exchange high fives in the middle of the diamond. Teams in the majors average a barrel rate of 8.6%; factoring in Bregman and Moises Ballesteros, your Chicago Cubs sport a barrel rate of 10.9%. Though he rarely gets credit for it, Ian Happ is one of the more proficient leadoff men in the game, with a career OBP of .343. Putting that kind of proficiency in front of a slugging Busch in the two-hole opens up a window for early offensive production likely to produce a rally and create situations for the opposition where they'd have little choice but to pitch to other power hitters like Bregman and Crow-Armstrong. There are no easy outs in this lineup. It's easy and quite a lot of fun to witness Busch step into the batter's box. A lot like the "C" in his club's primary logo, his Baseball Savant page is bright red. His 76% hard-hit rate backs up his slug and his overall power numbers from 2025. Though his All-Star teammate in centerfield overshadowed his output, Busch smacked 34 home runs, 25 doubles, and five triples in 2025. His vision, timing, and swing decisions are elite. By extension of that, his whole club figures to be elite in 2026. Good teams don't just have big names — they have balance. The 2026 version of this Cubs lineup is one of the most balanced in years. Last year, Busch was kept from a resoundingly splendid season due to his performance against left-handed pitching. But, not only did he trounce all pitching hands in his dominant postseason run, thanks to Jed Hoyer, he's got all kinds of insurance surrounding him to make sure he gets some good stuff to offer on. For the 150th time in baseball history, Chicago's North Side team is about to embark on a new season. Myriad pieces are in place to assure that version of this club is a memorable one for all the right reasons. Chief among those reasons will be whatever Michael Busch can accomplish atop the lineup. View full article

Image courtesy of © David Banks-Imagn Images Featuring their most complete roster since the end of the Theo Epstein/Joe Maddon era, the Chicago Cubs enter the 2026 campaign with aspirations of their first full-season division title since 2017. Standing in their way are the scrappy, overachieving, endlessly capable Milwaukee Brewers. Though Pat Murphy's club has given the nation a heart-warming underdog story for the past couple of seasons, Craig Counsell's crew is poised to retake the crown. Whether it be the dangerously frigid temperatures or the garden-variety anticipation of a new campaign, people are ready for baseball. The 2025 season earned the Chicago Cubs partial credit, as they made a satisfying return to the playoffs, but their steady climb to the top of the NL Central is not complete. As it has been for some time now, the NL Central figures to be a two-team race between the Cubs and Brewers. I can't stand preseason predictions. They're often too negative, overemphasize conceptual team alignments, and provide unnecessary bulletin board material for slighted squads. It's the fuel on which teams like Milwaukee thrive, as overzealous North Side fans look askance at their Wisconsin neighbors for dealing Freddy Peralta, their former ace, to the New York Mets. The Crew has emerged from similar deals unscathed and with a handsome haul of talent, as seen when they sent Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles, but it's a lot of needle-threading. The big question, this year, will be whether the Cubs can finally punish Milwaukee's long-term focus with some short-term pain. That will depend on their pitching staff. Despite the loss of Brad Keller to the Phillies, the Cubs' bullpen sports a diverse array of established relievers and former starters. They restocked with low-level moves in the relief corps, and took a risk by trading top prospects for starter Edward Cabrera. Chicago continues to undergo a series of changes in the outfield. While we know that Ian Happ and Pete Crow-Armstrong will keep patrol left and center field, right field will take on a different look without Owen Caissie or Kyle Tucker. In all likelihood, Seiya Suzuki, who made incremental improvements there, will get the lion's share of the time out there. Failing that, there are some intriguing fallback plans, as we've discussed here throughout the week. By enduring persistent shortcomings, missteps, and misfortunes, the Cubs have obtained one more weapon in their quest to seize the division championship in 2026: failure. In baseball, failure is the best teacher. In the past three campaigns alone, the North Siders missed the postseason by two agonizingly slim margins and limped into a postseason berth that left the faithful wanting more. But the muscle memory that pain created, paired with the unified talent this squad possesses, makes it fearsome. They're in a good enough spot to win the division this time around—so they'd better do so. View full article

Image courtesy of © David Banks-Imagn Images To paraphrase legendary Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo's remarks at Cubs Convention this weekend in downtown Chicago: this team should be a contender every year. Well, as luck would have it, recent additions to an already stout roster could make that true for the foreseeable future. That doesn't mean that all is well in Wrigleyville, however, as continued trade rumors involving the vital and beloved infielder Nico Hoerner haven't ceased. If things break right, this season possesses the potential to be a truly special one. When you're a squad at or near the top, though, improvements—let alone ones large enough to push you the next rung up the ladder—come harder and at higher costs. As the organization and its fans celebrated the 2016 World Series champions this weekend, everyone had a chance to reflect on how that magic happened. Bold moves and painful rebuilding years paved the way to sustained success. What resonates most, however, is how galvanized that team was, and how each member of that clubhouse wanted to be there. Here in 2026, standout newcomer Alex Bregman and his embrace of his team and the city have conjured up similar feelings. If and when Nico Hoerner takes the field for the first time this spring at Sloan Park, it will elicit a cathartic sigh of relief for Cubs fans—and some of the players. This current North Side baseball team is built on character, chemistry, and results. Hoerner is part of that fabric. While some pundits have gotten swept up in discussions regarding the inconsistent Matt Shaw, Hoerner has been one of the most steady players in professional baseball. He pelts fastballs, doesn't strike out, and is one of the best defensive second basemen in the big leagues. If that weren't enough, both his profile and commitment to his club harmoniously align with the directive of this team in 2026 and beyond. It took quite some time for this organization to get back to a place of perennial contention, so in my opinion, no one is expendable in this clubhouse—even if, at times, it feels like Shaw could be. If Shaw stays, the Cubs will benefit on both sides of the ball, as long as Craig Counsell can find places to play him without disrupting the rhythm of his starting infielders. On the other side of that coin, if he is dealt, his new club will no doubt greatly benefit from his presence. The Cubs would have to get such a trade right, to ensure that they improve in both the short term and the long term. Hoerner and Shaw are both Cubs as the Convention draws to a close. This weekend, though, both Jed Hoyer and Crane Kenney indicated the team will still make more moves before the offseason is over. What those moves add (and perhaps what they cost) for the 2026 team will heavily influence the fan base's mood come the middle of next month, when pitchers and catchers report to spring training. View full article