AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

The Rundown: Cubs Falling Further Behind Brewers, When It Rains It Pours, Verlander Notches Historic Strikeout

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterAugust 11, 2025

“Come join us in a prayer. We’ll be waiting, waiting where everything’s ending here.” – Here by Pavement

It wasn’t a good weekend to be a Cubs fan, just like almost every weekend since the end of June. Chicago keeps dropping close games, while the Brewers continue to pull rabbit’s foot after rabbit’s foot out of their asses. Milwaukee’s combination of excellence and good fortune reminds me a lot of the 1989 Cubs, and boy, were they fun to watch. We can only hope the Brewers’ playoff curse strikes again this year if/when they meet the Cubs in the postseason. That is, if our limping North Side Baseballers can hang on to a Wild Card berth.

The Cubs no longer control their own fate (though it’s still not too late) because they trail Milwaukee by six games with five tilts between the teams remaining. The soon-to-be scorched-earth rebuilding Cardinals, who took two of three from our beloved Cubbies, are slowly creeping back into the playoff picture.

Things are so bad that a large faction of fans on social media is ready to run Kyle Tucker out of town. Defending the Cubs is getting a lot tougher these days, too: There just isn’t much left to boast about. Shōta Imanaga and Matthew Boyd still look like studs, and Matt Shaw is outpacing Cam Smith. Jed Hoyer will soon be able to add “won the Tucker trade” to his list of semi-meaningless accomplishments.

I don’t want to mention the “C” word, but what if we are witnessing an implosion reminiscent of those mid-to-late 1970s September-swooning Cubs teams? Is there anything we can look at to assuage our feelings in the slightest? Here’s a nice little tidbit courtesy of eternally positive and all-around good guy Matt Clapp:

Of course, that information provides nothing in the way of slowing down the Brewers or any of the clubs chasing Chicago for the Wild Card. I don’t have a full grasp of playoff seeding machinations, but it looks like the Cubs would have to beat the Phillies for a shot at the bye-wielding Brewers based on current standings. Sure, there is plenty of time to turn things around, but that sand is sliding through the hourglass at an uncomfortably quick pace.

Cubs News & Notes

  • Nothing like a flooded clubhouse just before an important divisional matchup with one of your biggest rivals.
  • Chicago’s lack of consistent play is starting to resemble a very dark comedy.
  • The Cubs are 22-22 since June 15, when they held a 6.5-game lead over the Brewers. That’s not much better than several bottom-feeders, including the A’s (24-23), Orioles (23-25), Pirates (22-24), Braves (21-23), and White Sox (20-26). Milwaukee is 34-9 since then.
  • Why do the Cubs seem to have long stretches of complacency, nay regression, every season? Hoyer and Craig Counsell will tell you “that’s baseball.” Chicago is second overall in runs scored, but 18th over the past 30 days. Tucker has just one homer, three doubles, and six RBI over the last month. Since June 6, the Cubs have a .222 batting average with runners in scoring position (entering the weekend). Meanwhile, Milwaukee is hitting .314 with RISP since June 6 and a whopping .360 since July 7.
  • Since the All-Star break, the Cubs are slugging just .398, 20th in baseball.
  • A mental reset and a mechanical tweak ($) helped Shaw become one of the game’s hottest hitters. He may want to start a study group with Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Michael Busch, Seiya Suzuki, and Ian Happ.
  • Shaw’s power surge is a result of pulling the ball more, the same type of approach that vaulted his teammates to the top of most offensive categories before the All-Star break.
  • Busch appears to be on the verge of breaking his month-long slump.
  • Reinforcements are coming this week. Counsell said Miguel Amaya will join the team in Toronto, with Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad joining the team shortly after.
  • The Cubs dropped to No. 4 in the latest power rankings, which means national analysts have much more faith than Chicago’s fans. Perhaps Counsell and his troops should focus on the top Wild Card seed and simply hope for a chance at redemption in the playoffs. There is nothing wrong with that type of mindset.
  • ESPN’s David Schoenfield still considers the Cubs a lock to make the playoffs. He had some nice things to say about Cade Horton, too, calling the rookie “an emerging force” who is “vital” to the team’s chances of catching the Brewers.
  • An adolescent umpire (fanpire?) who had as much screentime as any player in the Cubs-Cardinals series has not been as well-received on social media.

Ball Four

Why do players wear that oven mitt again? Jon Berti isn’t getting any love from Cubs fans or Cliff Floyd.

Central Intelligence

How About That!

On Sunday, Justin Verlander became the 10th player in MLB history to reach 3,500 strikeouts.

MacKenzie Gore had a dominant bounce-back performance this weekend.

Fenway Park in Boston is emerging as the favorite to host the 2029 All-Star Game.

The Diamondbacks collected nine consecutive base hits in a historic 5th-inning rally on Sunday.

Extra Innings

I’ve said several times that Shaw would ultimately determine if trading Smith to Houston was the right move. Hoyer deserves all the credit for making the right choice. I still would have preferred a trade for Eugenio Suárez just for this year, but Shaw’s future is certainly bright.

Apropos of Nothing

I miss writing about the Bears, but I just don’t have any spare time. I also think they have the potential to finally get back to the playoffs this season. Maybe I’ll create a second Twitter account to specifically cater to football and post highlights.

They Said It

  • “You never know when a hot streak ends and you never know when a cold streak begins. It’s true, right? Like you look at it, you think to yourself, ‘OK, I know we’ll snap out of this. I know we’ll start hitting well. I don’t know when.’ It’s impossible to know. I know these guys are doing all the work. I give our hitting coaches, and I give the players so much credit. They show up with the same attitude every day. And sometimes you get the results and sometimes you don’t.” – Hoyer
  • “If you look at our situational numbers, … we have struggled with guys in scoring position. And that’s something that we were really strong at at the beginning [of the season]. And no team has figured that out. We’re not going to go six months and dominate with guys in scoring position. So I do feel like we have some positive regression coming in that regard.” – Hoyer
  • “The name of the game is to square the ball up and get on base and create rallies. You got to do it in all sorts of situations and all times of the year. And we’re just in a little rut right now where we’re not doing it. This is a very good offensive baseball team. It will happen. You never enjoy going through stretches like this. When you’re slumping, you kind of feel like you’re pressing because you’re not getting any good results. We’ve just got some guys not in great places swinging the bat right now. We’ll get them there.” – Counsell

Monday Walk-Up Song

We had nearly 13 inches of rain in four hours the other night, and I woke up Sunday morning to a flooded underground garage and extensive damage to my car. I don’t finance automobiles, so I have liability insurance only. Yes, that means I am looking for a new vehicle and will be bike riding the rest of the summer. When it rains, it pours. Perhaps I should buy a gondola, because we are expecting more rain each day this week.

Let me know if you’ve got anything for sale that’s not better off going to Victory Auto Wreckers.

“Summer rain, drifting down your face again. Summer rain praying someone feels the same. Take the painkiller, cycle on your bicycle. Leave all this misery behind.”

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterAugust 11, 2025
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