Fifth, Ninth and Last

 

The Cubs have probably done the math. Y'know, they're last in the NL Central, they're the ninth of nine teams currently in the wild card race, they're 5 games under .500, 6 games back from a spot. The numbers aren't great. 

But...it is August. A lot could happen in two months. A lot of teams could crash and burn. And they could heat up. And so even if it looks kinda bleak at the moment, and even if logically they have a low chance of making the playoffs...they're still in the race. And they still took two from the Cardinals [possibly three, I'm writing this Sunday night]. The Cubs do seem to be building momentum, and it's really good be a question of whether or not it'll be enough.

I will give this Cubs team credit, their core has gained a lot of ground in the last month. Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson and Cody Bellinger have all been very good lately. Happ has 62 RBIs this season and 17 home runs, and despite a .220 average he's been responsible for a lot of offensive production this year. Suzuki got over a slow start and now has a .272 average and a team-leading .837 OPS. PCA isn't hitting yet but he has 21 steals, which is a decent sign. Paredes isn't hitting yet but somehow Christian Bethancourt is, and better than he has in the last two years. You'd think that trading the home run leader would cause a drop in production but they've done very well in the power department, hence the outhitting St. Louis thing.

And look, obviously people have ebbed and flowed, but...right now Steele-Imanaga-Taillon-Assad-Hendricks is really working. It took a while for them all to get on the same page, then Imanaga leveled to purely 'good' rather than 'stellar', but all five of these guys are pitching solidly right now and being insanely reliable. I worried about Steele for a bit but he's back to his hard-throwing, consistent self, and will cross 100 Ks upon his next start. And look, I don't know when the other shoe's gonna drop again for Hector Neris, but he's been very good in the ninth lately.

Look, the problem with these recent Cubs teams is that I'm scared to get too excited because at any point they can do something really silly and lose all their momentum. It happened last year, and unless they go on a tear this month it could happen again. I firmly believe they have a competitive team and so many great pieces. They just need to jump on the right momentum and outdo the odds. They've done this before, and they could do it in 2024.

Coming Tonight: The good thing about Shohei Ohtani being gone in Anaheim is that there was an extra rotation spot open for this guy.