Post by Matt Meyer | Follow @Bluto51 on X (Twitter)
Five weeks left of the Major League Baseball season and the Chicago Cubs are firmly in the National League playoff chase. Entering a crucial week with three games against Milwaukee and four games against Cincinnati, the Cubs find themselves 4 games behind the Brewers and in second place in the NL Central. At 69-61, Chicago is in the second wild card position, ½ a game clear of Arizona and 2 games ahead of the first teams out of the playoffs, the Giants and the Reds.
A series that began on June 9th in San Francisco started a stretch of good play in which the Cubs won 11 of 13. After that stretch, Chicago lost 7 of 8 and it appeared as though the Cubs might be a seller at the trade deadline. The turning point for this club began on July 21st, the first of 8 straight wins that convinced the front office to add rather than subtract at the deadline. Chicago traded for 1B/3B Jeimer Candelario from the Nationals and RHP Jose Cuas from the Royals, two moves that have helped the club. Over the last two weeks, the Cubs played 12 games against teams that are not in playoff contention: the White Sox, Royals, Tigers, and Pirates. Chicago went 8-4 in those games after winning 3 of 4 in Pittsburgh this weekend. The Cubs have either won or split 11 of their last 12 series beginning with the Washington series back on July 17th-19th.
Cody Bellinger has been the biggest story of the Cubs’ season. After signing a 1 year deal last offseason, the 2019 National League MVP has regained his form, hitting .321 with 20 HR’s and 75 RBI’s in only 99 games. Bellinger is set to cash in this offseason and here’s hoping the Cubs are the team to pay him. The biggest bright spot offensively over the last couple of weeks has been the renewed production from Seiya Suzuki. The RF was in such a funk that he had lost his regular starting spot for a few games, but he’s rebounded to hit .368 in the month of August and solidified his place in the Cubs’ lineup. Despite being in the middle of the pack in HR’s and slugging, Chicago has scored the 5th most runs in baseball, due in part to the 6th best on base percentage in the big leagues.
After having a fantastic first half of the season, Marcus Stroman hasn’t pitched since July 31st due to a right rib cage cartilage fracture that certainly played a part in the All Star’s 9.11 ERA in the month of July. With only 32 games left in the season, time’s running out for Stroman to get healthy and rejoin the rotation. Javier Assad has stepped into a starting role and has pitched very well with an ERA of 2.96, and Kansas State product Jordan Wicks made his big league debut on Saturday, throwing 5 innings of 1 run ball. Wicks gave up a lead off HR and allowed the next two Pirates to reach base, but after a mound visit, Wicks retired the next 15 batters that he faced without allowing a ball to leave in the infield. If Stroman doesn’t return or can’t regain his brilliant form from early in the season, Assad and Wicks could hold the key to the Cubs winning the division. Justin Steele continues to anchor the rotation with a 2.80 ERA, and Adbert Alzolay and Mark Leiter, Jr. have been terrific at the back end of the bullpen. Good to see Keegan Thompson return to the big leagues as he threw 2 sparkling innings in relief on Sunday. Thompson could provide a huge boost to the middle of a Chicago bullpen that has been good lately but inconsistent throughout the season.
Huge opportunity for the Cubs this week as they take on the Brewers for 3 and the Reds for 4. After getting swept by the Dodgers, Milwaukee has been red hot, winning 8 in a row to stay atop the NL Central. Great pitching matchups on Tuesday and Wednesday with Steele facing Corbin Burnes and Kyle Hendricks taking on Brandon Woodruff. After the Cincinnati series, Chicago then gets the Giants for 3 and the Diamondbacks for 4, two of the chief contenders for the wild card. It’s imperative that the Cubs rack up as many wins as possible before the last week of the season, when they’ll go to Atlanta for 3 and Milwaukee for 3 to close out the year. Chicago got hot just in time to change the trajectory of their season and convince the front office to make a run at the playoffs. The Cubs have five weeks to prove that the front office made the correct decision.