I went to a Phillies game a couple weeks ago against the Cubs. Nothing really noteworthy happened, so I thought at the time. But from the start of that game, both teams embarked on long streaks. The Phillies, who lost that game, would go on to lose the next 9, eventually squeaking out a win in Atlanta Saturday night. The Cubs, who won, would keep rolling themselves, winning THEIR next 9. It never usually works that well, where one game can be a turning point for two different teams. And now the Cubs are heading towards first while the Phillies, the way it's looking, might be firing some people very soon.
I don't really want to say the Phillies thing was my fault, but I can take being responsible for a Cubs run. Always fun to see.
I root it back to Ian Happ, who's always been a sort of supporting player for these Cubs teams despite being longest-tenured. He shows up, does something cool, doesn't make it about him, and Hoerner or Suzuki or PCA gets to be the hero. Well right now Happ leads the Cubs in homers with 7. Dansby Swanson has 6. The people you think would be hitting all the homers in Chicago, like Suzuki and Bregman and Busch, aren't doing as much for this team as the fundamental, 'always there' guys. It's honestly odd that the Cubs have sort of taken Dansby Swanson for granted, but he really just shows up, plays great defensive shortstop, hits .244 and drives in a lot of runs. He's had a 4+ WAR every season he's been a Cub. Even Happ, as good as he's been, didn't really lock in til around 2022. By the way, shockingly Happ's never hit more than 25 homers in a season. Could this be the year he goes for 30?
As I figured, even during the Cubs' rough stretch earlier, the plan of putting a bunch of proven run producers in the same lineup has worked extremely well for this team. Suzuki's hitting .300 in his first 15 games, he's 4 homers in. Hoerner's not only leading the team in average but in RBIs and stolen bases. Moises Ballesteros has become an excellent DH option, with 4 homers and 12 RBIs already. Carson Kelly's strong 2025 has carried over to a just-as-strong 2026, still starting and hitting .300. It's really only PCA and Busch who aren't hitting, and they can turn around in an instant. The rotation isn't terrific, with a lot resting on another okay Shota Imanaga season, but the idea is for the lineup to just outhit anybody anyway. Kind of an uphill battle when you're playing the Dodgers but against the majority of the rest of the league they can really score.
It's a tough division, especially considering that everyone's still above .500, but I think the Cubs have proven, since the streak, that they have the hitting to outrun the competition, and they could build on this and have a fruitful postseason. That's only if they can hang onto momentum like they just did though.
Coming Tonight: I was beginning to think 1st base in Houston was cursed, but all it took was a year to figure out the new park and this guy seems to have broken it.
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