The Cubs have led the National League Central by as many as 6 ½ games this season, but the Brewers and Cardinals have made up ground the last week and a half, as the Cubs have hit some rough terrain.
By the end of Sunday, after the Cubs’ 2-0 loss to the Astros, the Brewers (47-37) and Cardinals (47-38) had pulled to within two and 2 ½ games back of the Cubs (49-35), respectively.
“You want to have urgency every time you come to the ballpark,” right-hander Jameson Taillon said after limiting the Astros to two runs in 4 ⅔ innings Sunday. “It’s a privilege and an honor playing in the big-leagues. But also, this is such a good crew of veteran guys. You don’t want to hit the panic button at all.
“It’s like, keep showing up, keep doing the right things, stack days, have the right process, and it’ll turn. We’re playing some good teams, they’re playing us really tough. And there’s going to come a point in time where we flip the script, and teams are coming to us and saying, ‘Man, those guys are really hot.’”
That was the case for much of the first half of the season. The Cubs had the best record in the National League as recently as June 21.
They were bound to cool off for a stretch.
Over their last 12 games, the Cubs have gone 5-7. splitting series with the Brewers and Cardinals, and losing to the Mariners and Astros. That barely would have registered as a slump last season, when the Cubs fell into a seven-week rut in May and June.
“Last year, it just felt like it was a couple-month thing,” Taillon said. “This has just been a couple-week thing. And we’re playing good teams too. It’s not like we’re out here just getting it handed to us every day.”
He used Sunday as an example. The Cubs put up zeros against Astros veteran left-hander Famber Valdez. A two-run homer by Jose Altuve was the difference in the game.
“It’s a good team, they don’t lose at home,” Taillon said. “Framber’s, really good, Altuve is a really good player. So it’s not like we’re out here just giving teams games. That’s another cause for optimism. Just weather it now and keep going.”
The Cubs crossed the halfway point in the season on Thursday with a 48-33 record. By comparison, 81 games into last season, the Cubs were 37-44, sitting in fifth place in the division, with their trade deadline plan up in the air.
At the halfway point this year, the Cubs had scored 437 runs, their most first-half runs since 2008 (442). Even more impressive, their 428 RBI were the most in the first half of a season since 1930 (480).
“We’ve played a really good brand of baseball,” Happ said Thursday, after left-hander Shota Imanaga’s return from the IL. “Regardless of the record, I think the most exciting thing about the first half is we’ve run the bases well, we’ve played great defense, the offense has shown up, the bullpen’s been dominant, starting pitching has been really good, Shota’s healthy now. All of those things for where we are in the season are exciting, for having another 81 games left.”
The Cubs have also limited the long losing streaks. Their longest has been three games, which they’ve recorded twice.
To end their most recent skid, the Cubs shut the Cardinals out for two straight games last week to beat them 8-0 and 3-0.
“The regular season in baseball is a great test that involves everything: it involves struggles, it involves winning streaks, losing streaks,” manager Craig Counsell said. “And we’re halfway through it, but we know that there’s a lot of all those events yet to happen. So, ready for it and looking forward to it.”