Despite Sweeping The Division Leading Brewers In Yesterday's Double-Header, The Cubs Still Haven't Course Corrected Their Month Long Skid, And Have Fans Bringing Laptops To Games To Finish Work

Here’s where things stand right now- the Cubs are 72–54 and sitting pretty in second place in the NL Central. 

Still within striking distance of Milwaukee, firmly in the Wild Card race, and playing meaningful baseball deep into August. 

On paper, that’s a hell of a spot to be in. If I had told you back in April that come August, this team would be almost 20 games over .500 with an easy schedule down the stretch, you’d have signed in blood.

And yet, something still feels off.

But I don't want to be all doom and gloom. The Cubs did just sweep a doubleheader from Milwaukee, and the bullpen looks like it’s finally stabilized into something trustworthy. (Shocking when you consider the names its comprised of and that it's been held together by shoelaces and bubble gum the last 5 years)

Seven relievers combined to toss scoreless innings the other day, which is not a sentence anyone would’ve expected to read back in May. Or maybe they would? 

Even role guys like Owen Caissie and Willi Castro are stepping up with big hits in big moments.

They’ve also held steady despite some serious injury hits. Justin Steele is done for the year with elbow surgery, Ben Brown has been wobbly, and the rotation’s been patched together with duct tape and prayers. Somehow, it’s worked well enough to keep them in the hunt.

The bad news though is that the offense has gone flatter than a warm Miller High Life. Since the All-Star break, the Cubs are 24th in MLB in runs scored. That’s not just “meh,” that’s bottom-feeding, Pirates-level trash.

The biggest issue is obviously Kyle Tucker. Before the break, he was hitting .280 with 17 homers. Since then, he’s hitting about .182, with one home run. He’s getting booed at Wrigley now. Counsell even benched him for a “mental reset.”

It’s not just him, though. The whole lineup can’t buy a hit with runners in scoring position. They went 0-for-8 in one game last week and have had multiple shutouts where they looked like they forgot how to hit completely. 

Remember how Wrigley used to be a launching pad for home runs? Not this year. Through June they had 26 homers at home compared to 54 on the road. That’s an insane stat that my friend Carl would be proud of me for pointing out.

I wasn't around for it, but lifelong CUbs fans have nervous jitters because they've seen this movie before- 1977. First-half juggernaut, second-half collapse.  When you go 8–12 in a critical stretch like they just did, that ghost of ’77 starts rattling chains.

It almost happened in 2007 but Lou Pinella saved the day - 

Not that I'm worried, but something tells me Craig Counsell doesn't maintain that same demeanor.

The Brewers are too good to hand back the division if the Cubs keep choking in big spots. And while the Wild Card is still in play, it’s hard to feel confident when your offense looks like it’s allergic to scoring runs.

This is obvioiusly still a playoff-caliber team. The bullpen is surprisingly resilient and strong, the rotation has reinforcements coming, and guys like Caissie might be emerging at the perfect time. But if Tucker (and PCA) don’t snap out of their funk and the offense doesn’t wake up, the Cubs are going to be that team in October that everyone says “had a nice year” while they’re golfing in Arizona by the second week of the month.

The record says contender. But the general sentiment seems ominous. Here's hoping they can build on that 2 game sweep yesterday and keep it rolling.