CHICAGO — Storms rolling through the city of Chicago this week felt symbolic of where the Cubs stood as they came into the biggest week of their 2025 season. The Cubs, gearing up for this week’s five-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers, have been weathering major storms throughout the season’s second half.
And after dropping the first game vs. Milwaukee 7-0 on Monday, Chicago had two options. They could let the Brewers walk into Wrigley Field and snuff out any remaining hope of a division title, or the Cubs could fight back and show the baseball world they aren’t out of it yet.
After weeks of seeming unable to pick themselves up off the ground, through the first three games of this series, the Cubs look like they’ve finally found some fight. They swept Tuesday’s doubleheader by scores of 6-4 and 4-1, taking back some momentum with two games left to play.
“This is a good baseball team that’s earned a very good position and future and excitement for the last seven weeks of the season,” manager Craig Counsell said. “And that means there’s challenges, man. Bring ’em on.”
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season
It has been a tale of two seasons for the Cubs and a roller coaster when it comes to their place in the pecking order of MLB’s elite. For months, the vibes couldn’t have been better at the corner of Clark and Addison. For the first time since late 2018, the Cubs looked like a team that was not only one of the best in baseball but also capable of reaching the World Series.
The biggest reason for that success was an offense that had a little bit of everything. Whether it was slug, speed, command of the strike zone or on-base ability, the Cubs were putting together the best offense in baseball and sitting atop the NL thanks to that production.
However, in the weeks since the All-Star break, the same offense that made Chicago a threat in October vanished. The team’s elite hitters — Michael Busch, Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong — went ice cold, and the rest of the lineup cooled off, too. And when the Cubs’ offense began to tank, it looked like some of their confidence and swagger disappeared as well.
What better opportunity to get that swagger back than playing well against a Brewers team that came into the series on a tear, having taken over the division and the top spot in the NL with an incredible run this summer?
For weeks, the Cubs have been looking for a spark to get themselves going again, and they might have found it in the form of top prospect Owen Caissie, who starred in Chicago’s doubleheader sweep. The Canadian-born outfielder, who was called up Thursday, went 3-for-6 with a home run and four RBI against the Brewers.
And the Cubs’ offense followed suit, scoring 10 runs across the two games.
“It’s awesome for him to be able to get his first hit … and his first home run to be able to help us in a big way today is huge,” Busch said. “And then, he had an opportunity [in Game 1] and came up short, as we all do. But he came back that second one and drove in a huge run. Like those at-bats at that age, to be able to do it, it’s a testament to him and the work that he’s put in.”
While the Cubs seem to have found some direction after treading water, there’s still plenty of work to be done in the final two games of this series — and the final two months of the season. The Cubs sit seven games back in the division entering Wednesday but hold the top wild card in the NL. For Chicago to make some noise down the stretch and into October, the offense has to show it can be consistent again, with elite production from the likes of Busch, Suzuki, Crow-Armstrong and Tucker.
While he’s not the only culprit for the offense disappearing, a lot of Chicago’s aura in the first half came from both the presence and production of Tucker, indisputably one of baseball’s top hitters. When things were going well in Chicago, the four-time All-Star was right in the middle of the action, with an OPS around .900 and most of his offensive numbers in line with his career averages.
But with the Cubs preparing for their last stand against the Brewers, their best player was benched Tuesday, with his OPS having cratered since the break, sitting at .572 over his past 26 games. Tucker’s benching felt symbolic of a Cubs season that started off so well but now feels in danger of being wasted because of underperformance from the roster and inactivity at the trade deadline.
At this point in the season, hoping for results from Tucker and the rest of the team’s core isn’t going to get the Cubs where they want to go. With the stakes as high as ever entering the final two games vs. Milwaukee, the Cubs’ stars need to deliver — and quickly — to keep their season on pace for the postseason.
The Cubs could gain some more ground on the Brewers this week, but no matter how this series concludes, they will likely be fighting to secure a wild card over the last 36 games of the season. Regardless of the team ahead of them in the standings, Chicago’s focus has to be on righting the ship and not letting this season go to waste.
“I’m not scared of these challenges, and the guys in there aren’t scared of these challenges,” Counsell said. “This is a Major League Baseball season, and you gotta earn playoff spots.”
Chicago sweeping the five-game series could’ve altered the outlook in the division, but with the gap between the teams so significant coming into the week, the Central might be all but wrapped up already. For a Cubs team that needed to regain its identity, showing up against Milwaukee and not getting run out of their own building probably means just as much down the stretch.
[Get more Chicago news: Cubs team feed]
The Cubs have needed to get right for weeks, so even in a series split, being able to fight and show signs of life on offense is significant. The pressure on this Cubs team remains at a season-high, but it’s starting to feel like momentum is on their side once again.
“Not just against the Brewers, I feel like every win matters for us at this point in the year, and division aside, just worrying about ourselves,” starting pitcher Jameson Taillon said. “Like, it’s nice to get some good wins against a good team. I don’t like to concern ourselves too much with chasing them all the time. They’re playing great baseball. They’ve been on a generational run right now.
“But to win two games in one day against a team that’s that good — that’s big, and hopefully it’s something we can build off and just concern ourselves with ourselves.”
Read the full article here