Action.
We are ROLLING.
And welcome back to Chicago Cubs News & Notes – a roundup blog covering the most important things in the Chicago Cubs’ universe.
Today is an off day before 9 straight on the road starting with the Nationals tomorrow before going to Detroit and Philadelphia respectively.
Overall not horrible travel with the boys staying in the same time zone for all 3 series, which is nice.
And I also like starting with an easier slate against the Nationals before turning it up a notch against the Tigers this weekend. Obviously not the easiest circumstance but I can survive 5-4 and even stomach 4-5 provided it’s competitive baseball.
That’s the nice thing about building such a comfortable lead in the division so early. We can spare an average week when we’ve won 8 straight series and are 15 games over .500. There’s a cushion to absorb regression and understandably that’s part of the game.
Here’s some other big stuff on my mind:
The Monday Morning Cubs Show is out and is fantastic. You can listen here.
Mahoney and I are a lot like Craig Counsell’s tenure. Maybe some rust or holdover in our first season trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.
This year we’re back to basics and it’s really come together as a nice show. And as someone who has done thousands of shows, I think I have the credibility to say what’s a good show and we’re here.
In fact it’s very good.
So is the Cubs bullpen in May.
Granted the competition hasn’t been anything special but you still have to go out and play the games. I’m not discounting their collective success out of convenience. And don’t forget that includes Ryan Pressly’s 8 ER in 0 innings a few weeks back.
It’s most encouraging because it will continue to improve over the 162. Jed’s going to make a couple trades. We’re going to get more talent and role clarity and it’s going to make everyone better. So while we bitched a lot at the start of the season, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a categorical strength in tandem with our defense and baserunning down the stretch.
Also important to remember that the Cubs would be the #1 seed in the NL should the playoffs start tomorrow.
That’s huge to avoid the opening 3-game series wild card round of the playoffs. Obviously nice to get home field advantage too but that’s simply so far away.
Right now the important thing is we were lucky to be the 16th best team in baseball at our best last year and now we look like #1. As Mahoney likes to say on the MMCS, sometimes you just gotta enjoy the moment and soak it up.
Also I want to be clear that Nico needs to hit towards the middle or bottom of the lineup. He doesn’t need to lead off because I’d rather have him hit in tight high leverage spots with runners in scoring position. And that’s much more likely to happen if he’s behind PCA/Swanson/Busch than it is with him setting the table. I also think he’s such a problem int he 7 hole despite not hitting for any home run power. Such a unicorn in the grand scheme of modern baseball. Overall he’s just fine 7th and I don’t care if that means watching Ian Happ be average until his impending June breakout.
I also don’t care if you want to argue about all Century Teams.
This is a great exercise for off days and a good piece of programming from the folks at CHGO.
I have no arguments at this time.
And while we’re giving local Cubs creators credit, I have enjoyed following Six Point Sports for a number of years and I think you would too:
The Cubs being good brings the best out of us.
That’s what I’m realizing in the 2025 season.
It’s fun to win games and smash teams, but I’m really buying into the local camaraderie that good baseball brings the community. So keep it pumping and please remember to keep the vibes high even when times are tough. If anything this Cubs team has more than proved the ability to never give up and that’s gotta mean something to us at some point.
Finally.
I’m losing faith in WAR as an overall statistic and I don’t really care to argue about the trend. But that said you can’t ignore PCA having a 3-something at this point in the calendar. Some of those numbers are pretty incredible and it’s hardly June.
So for that last time – please please PLEASE just try to enjoy yourself because we are in the midst of a very special season.
For more on the magic, check out today’s MMCS