How dazzling defense has helped Cubs survive injury barrage: ‘Best defensive team I’ve ever been a part of’

CINCINNATI — Things weren’t going so well for Caleb Thielbar on Wednesday night.

The lefty reliever allowed back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, further whittling down what hadn’t long earlier been a comfortable six-run Cubs lead.

A two-out double put another guy in scoring position. Then Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson smashed a 103-mile-an-hour liner back up the middle. Oh no, another run, right?

Not with Dansby Swanson there. The Gold Glove shortstop made a remarkable diving snag, yet another highlight-reel defensive play, this one a run-saver.

Heck, it might have been a game-saver. An inning later, the Cubs were in the win column.

That’s been a big part of the story for these Cubs, a roster built on a foundation of excellent defense, with Gold Glovers all over the field. And as pitching injuries have threatened to drag them down and keep them far from their championship-level aspirations, the defense has helped fend off that fate and keep them in playoff position as the All-Star break approaches.

“It’s the best defensive team I’ve ever been a part of, for sure,” outfielder Michael Conforto said Friday.

That’s easy to back up, of course. The Cubs won a team Gold Glove last season and again, statistically, rank as the sport’s finest collection of leather-wielders, waking up Friday as baseball’s leaders in defensive runs saved (63), outs above average (43) and fielding run value (40).

As the pitching staff has been held together with Scotch tape, at times, with so many hurlers on the injured list — manager Craig Counsell described it as a “revolving door” Friday — the defense has kept the quality of the Cubs’ run prevention high.

“The consistency of guys limiting the other team, limiting the damage, it’s a big part — with all the injuries we’ve had on the pitching side — of us being able to steady the ship a little bit,” Conforto said. “Obviously, it’s owed big time to guys stepping up on our pitching staff, not to take anything away from them. But the defense really helps in that regard.”

“Our defense is definitely a factor. It just helps your pitching,” Counsell said. “You can go to the Baltimore series and the St. Louis series [before it] and see examples of plays, runs taken off the board from our defense. They make your pitchers better.”

This, of course, was the expectation. The Cubs didn’t know they’d be hammered with pitching injuries to this degree, but they knew their defense would be the definition of dependable.

It’s gotten to the point they consider themselves downright spoiled.

“Sometimes great defense is a little boring. The routine play gets made over and over and over again. And sometimes, great defense is the spectacular,” Counsell said Thursday. “Dansby and Nico [Hoerner, second baseman], they’re both so good at ‘the play gets made,’ and you don’t think about it.

“The above-average play turns into a very routine play, and you don’t think about it or talk about it. But that’s what great defenders do, they almost spoil you with the boring ability to make every play.”

Last fall, then-manager Mike Shildt said Swanson “almost single-handedly beat us with his glove” after the Cubs dispatched of his Padres in the wild-card round of the playoffs.

With eyes on returning to the postseason and making a longer run than the one that ended in Milwaukee last year, the Cubs know their defense will play a critical role.

“There’s a lot of plays that are made that may not stand out, necessarily, might be taken for granted if you’re not closely watching,” Conforto said. “There’s little chips off of the other team’s chances that this defense continuously makes that over the course of 162 games is going to amount to a lot of advantages on our side.

“And those things really show up in the playoffs, as well, when the moments get bigger and you have those reps over and over again. It can literally come down to one pitch, one play sending you home or moving you on.”