If it seems the Cubs are more fun to watch this season — and are having more fun themselves — there’s a reason for that.
‘‘Last year, we had a good clubhouse,’’ first baseman Michael Busch told the Sun-Times on Sunday. ‘‘But this year, winning does help a little bit. I mean, that’s what we’re put here to do, right? That’s our job — to show up and help the Cubs win.’’
Mission accomplished. To this point, anyway.
The Cubs, who had the day off Monday — a welcome breather between a pair of 13-games-in-13-days stretches — are 44-28, atop the National League Central and one game shy of the best record in the league.
They got to have more fun Sunday, winning on a walk-off hit in the 10th inning that sparked an on-field celebration, with left fielder Ian Happ leaping into the air after delivering the game-winning knock as he awaited a mob of happy teammates.
HAPP-Y FATHER’S DAY WALK OFF! pic.twitter.com/DPSskUIuU7
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 15, 2025
That kind of thing has happened plenty for these Cubs, who have spent the first 2½ months of the season with one of the most productive offenses in the majors, received quietly strong pitching performances from the rotation and the bullpen and showed they can win in various ways, thanks to their defensive and baserunning skills.
And they’re having fun because of it.
To quote a former Chicago manager, albeit one from the other side of town: Fun is winning, and winning is fun.
‘‘It’s a ton of fun,’’ third baseman Matt Shaw told the Sun-Times on Saturday. ‘‘As much as we put in the work and we’re focused and grinding, we’re also really enjoying it. That atmosphere is awesome.
‘‘We’re building relationships, naturally. We’re enjoying each other’s company. We’re having fun on and off the field. We’re on a 13-game stretch here, and it’s a grind. But nobody’s pouting. We’re enjoying it. We’re having fun together.’’
From a viewer’s standpoint, the maxim holds: Walk-off victories and game-winning hits are more fun to watch than blowout defeats and weak groundouts.
Much of the roster is the same from the Cubs’ team of last season, which turned in a fifth consecutive 162-game season without making the playoffs. (The 2020 team reached the postseason after a 60-game regular season.) But the differences have been significant.
Manager Craig Counsell pointed to the emergence of center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who has brought ample emotion alongside his human-highlight-reel style of play, and the arrival of right fielder Kyle Tucker, who has delivered on expectations of an MVP-style anchor in the lineup.
‘‘You can’t help but acknowledge that and have fun with the performance,’’ Counsell said Friday. ‘‘It’s fun watching Kyle Tucker hit.’’
Though the Cubs seemingly have cruised through the season to this point — they’ve been in first place since April 4, thanks to their mastery of a tough early-season schedule — there are signs they are being tested.
Beyond the obvious sting of being without top-of-the-rotation arms Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga, that aforementioned 13-game stretch threw one elite pitcher after another at the Cubs.
Though they remain the second-highest-scoring team in the majors at an average of 5.4 runs a game, the Cubs have averaged only 3.4 runs in their last 13.
That included dates against MacKenzie Gore, Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Zack Wheeler, Jesus Luzardo and Paul Skenes. In those six games, the Cubs scored a combined seven runs, with only three of them coming against that collection of starting pitchers, the type they’ll be seeing every game come October.
They totaled nine runs in their just-completed four-game series against the Pirates, winning three of them while navigating strong pitching and the Wrigley Field weather.
Next up? The division rivals they haven’t quite yet left in the dust. The Brewers, who are 5½ games out, come to town for a three-game series starting Tuesday. And a trip to St. Louis to take on the above-.500 Cardinals, who are seven games back, comes next week.
Even amid these tests, however, the Cubs have remained fun to watch. And they’ve kept having fun, too.
‘‘Winning helps everything,’’ bench coach Ryan Flaherty said Sunday. ‘‘But the players, it’s a tight-knit group. They enjoy baseball. Not just playing baseball but talking about the game. . . . It’s a special group, for sure.’’
