ST. LOUIS — This Chicago Cubs roller-coaster ride has been one for the books.
Whether it turns into a classic or gets thrown into the used-books bin remains to be seen.
The trade deadline is quickly approaching, the heat index is rising and the Cubs suddenly have performed like the team they were at the start of the season, making believers out of longtime skeptics and forcing the front office to either commit to this group or fast-forward to the future.
Does President Jed Hoyer believe in this team enough to stand pat or even add on? Or will his business sensibilities override his penchant for dreaming big?
Like the “Save Ferris” campaign in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” Cubs players have engaged in a sort of guerilla campaign to “Save Belli” and “Save Stro,” hoping to keep Cody Bellinger and Marcus Stroman in the mix for a playoff push. If it works and they’re both still here Wednesday, the pressure will be on the players to avoid backsliding, as they’ve done before this season after prolonged stretches of playing well.
Hoyer must choose between his head and his heart. You have to believe he would want to keep both in a perfect world and roll the dice down the stretch. But he can’t dismiss what has happened in the first four months, even if it’s hard to make heads or tails of this team.
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When the Cubs went on a 10-3 run in early April, culminating with a three-game sweep of the A’s in Oakland, you might have thought they clinched the pennant, at least if you were listening to Marquee Sports Network analyst Rick Sutcliffe.
But it turned out to be another case of someone with a big microphone wearing Cubs-colored glasses. After slumping in late April, all of May and into early June, the Cubs found themselves 10 games under .500 following a sweep by the Los Angeles Angels on June 8.
Just when it seemed safe to count them out and look toward 2024, the Cubs won 11 of 13 to get back within one game of .500, only to lose six of seven, including a devastating defeat July 3 in Milwaukee. Dansby Swanson said afterward it was time to “man up,” and the Cubs did just that the next night in a comeback win against the Brewers to stay on the edge of contention.
They won 13 of their next 19 and a season-high six straight entering Friday’s game against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, becoming the third team in franchise history to get back to the .500 mark after being 10 games under.
They extended their streak to seven straight wins with a 3-2 win Friday night after outfielder Mike Tauchman robbed a home run to end the game and moved the Cubs above .500 for 1st time since May 6.
So who are these guys? With two months left, are the Cubs back to being a contender or just teasing their fans again?
“On this day, whatever today is, I don’t think .500 matters a whole lot to us,” manager David Ross said Friday. “We’re playing really good baseball . Part of your record is what you’ve done in the past. We’ve had a really rough May and some high moments and some low moments. It has gotten us to this point. However we got here, we’re here, and we’re playing good baseball. That’s my main concern.”
The Cubs’ 26-15 record since June 9 was tied for third best in the majors. They are 3 1/24 four games out of a wild-card spot and 4 1/2 behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers.
It’s perhaps their best stretch since early April, and as Ross pointed out, they’ve been doing it in a much different manner.
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“I thought our pitching really stood out early on,” he said. “I feel like the offense is standing out right now, and different players are doing it. Timely hitting. We’re still getting guys on and able to bust games open a little bit. Hopefully this transitions into a back half of everybody kind of clicking on all cylinders.”
Being .500 is nothing to shout about. But it has been a while since one of Chicago’s five oldest professional sports teams had a winning record in the second half of their season. That team would be the 2021-22 Bulls, who finished 10 games over.
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Normally a team with a .500 record at this point would be unapologetic sellers ready to play out the string. But these are strange times, and if Bellinger can continue to carry them the final two months, anything could happen.
In late May, when the Cubs were only 4 1/2 out despite being five games below .500, Ross cracked: “Thank goodness for the (crappy) play of everybody in the division I guess, right?”
The National League Central isn’t quite as crummy as it looked back then, though the Cubs are still the only team with a positive run differential. The Reds on Friday were 27-14 since June 9, and the Brewers have traditionally hung in down the stretch, even after dumping players at the trade deadline, such as closer Josh Hader last year.
With so much uncertainty before Tuesday’s trade deadline, it’s almost impossible to speculate about where the Cubs will be a little more than one month from now when the races heat up in September.
We’ve seen them at their best and their worst, sometimes in the same week.
Maybe it’d be less stressful to just let it play out without any expectations. Stop worrying about tomorrow and just enjoy the ride.
But what fun would that be?