Well, that sucked

Baseball is a game of ebbs and flows, with an extremely long season, and a top of games. So, it stands to reason that every team will go through some bad stretches.

The last couple of games for the Cubs may have been the worst two-day stretch of this season – and that’s saying a lot, in a season that included a season-ending injury for their best pitcher and a disastrous month of May that saw them plummet from a division lead to the fifth place at the time.

Over the past two days, they lost big to a historic rival twice in a row at home, allowed an opponent to hit 3 home runs in his major league debut, had their starting shortstop go down to an oblique injury, the starter they activated off the IL got blistered in more ways than one in his return, and the team fell two games further back in the division. Those two days have dampened the positive vibes that came out of the trade deadline and several series wins in a row.

But baseball moves on, and the Cubs have the chance to get back on the right track tonight against their cross-town rivel – who might be at their vibes apex of the season after a sweep on the road of the Tigers, the second place team in their division. Their lead in the AL Central has swelled up to 5.5. games, and they have a 3-game lead for the 2nd bye in the AL.

This doesn’t seem fair, as the Cubs would be 6 games ahead of the Sox in the standings, if they were in the same league. But the AL continues to be historically bad, with the Baltimore Orioles sitting in the final Wild Card spot, 2 games under .500.

There have been a ton of positives for the Cubs this season, but how they respond to the latest adversity – especially the loss of their Gold-Glove shortstop for a stretch – will be their biggest test so far. Hopefully, we don’t see a repeat of the May collapse, and they keep themselves in position to push the Milwaukee Brewers when they play their 7 remaining head-to-head games. It really feel like the next nine games against the Sox, Mariners and DbBcks could be a tipping point in determining whether 2026 will be a=viewed as a successful season or a missed opportunity.