Performance woes, starting rotation woes. You name it, and the Chicago Cubs are going right through them. For the latter in particular, the Cubs tried to find a solution in Michael Soroka. He showed promise in two innings of his first start before a shoulder injury forced him out. On the other hand, Cubs right-hander Cade Horton has been a solid performer with a 6-3 record and 3.18 ERA. While Horton was stingy in July with just four runs allowed in four starts, August hasn’t been as kind.
The internal issues in the Cubs persist, but the blame for panicking their fans lies on the Milwaukee Brewers’ shoulders. Or so claims an insider. In a recent North Side Territory episode, Sahadev Sharma tried to dust off fans’ panic by reminding them that “That’s the frustration of baseball.” This season, the Chicago Cubs have posted a 66-49 record, putting them in 2nd place in the NL Central. They’re 5 games back.
Essentially, they are locked in for the playoffs and competing for the second-best record in baseball. But they’ve got a tough division rival to beat out, the hottest team in baseball is right in their NL Central backyard. And that’s a major problem. Sharma highlights the same and says, “Here’s the real big issue: this is why the panic has set in for fans. The Milwaukee Brewers are on their greatest stretch ever. That’s not hyperbole. They just had their greatest 60-game run in team history.”
Right now, the Brewers are topping the charts as baseball’s best team. With a 71-44 record, they’re four games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays. Despite a rough opening to the 2025 season against the New York Yankees, Milwaukee’s turned things around big time: they’re on a 46-16 run, have won seven straight, and have extended their division lead to five games. It’s a historic number, a sign of trouble for the fellow NL Central team.
And Sharma doesn’t shy away from giving the credit where the credit it due. Namely, on the Brewers’ side. “I mean, they’re winning in every way possible,” he says, and adds, “nothing is bouncing their [Cubs] way. Everything is bouncing the Brewers’ way. Everything.” Indeed, the Brewers’ stats tell us so. But you know what else does? This isn’t even Cubs’ worst performance.
Last season, in May and June 2024, the Cubs struggled at the plate, ranking 26th and 27th in runs scored with a tough 21-34 record. Fast forward to this season – they’ve turned things around in June and July, ranking 15th and 11th in runs scored with a much improved 27-23 mark. The numbers are worrying to everyone, including the team members themselves.
Cubs’ star Kyle Tucker says the recent slump ‘sucks’
Cubs star Kyle Tucker was battling an offensive slump Tuesday, fouling off two splitters, one on the outer third of the plate and the other on the inner third, before finding himself in an 0-2 count. He watched a high fastball and then whiffed on a third splitter low in the zone. The memory of the team’s seven-week slump last season is hard to shake, but the Cubs brought in Tucker, a hitter with the caliber to push through tough times, to avoid repeating history.
In July, Tucker posted a .295 slugging percentage with a .380 on-base percentage, a drop-off from his hot start to the season — quite low for a perimeter power-hitter like Tucker. In fact, since the All-Star break, Kyle Tucker has posted a .212/.388/.308 slash line with just three extra-base hits in 18 games. All of these runs, however, are affecting him. Frustrating him, in fact.
May 10, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker (30) receives congratulations from teammates after hitting a home run in the sixth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
“It sucks,” Tucker said of his slump. “But at the same time, we’ve got another game the next day. So you’ve got to, each at-bat, try to refocus and try and do what you want that at-bat, and do what you can to move runners over, try to get them in.”
Manager Counsell gave Tucker a day off on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s off day. Tucker has shown he can produce even through adversity, like in June when he played through a jammed finger that kept him out of the lineup for two games, posting a .982 OPS. “It’s fine,” he said. “I’ve got to go to my job regardless of how I feel. So I’m just trying to just continue that as best I can.” Well, the Cubs fans will hope the same.
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