It’s go time for the Cubs.
After surviving an avalanche of pitching injuries and a monthlong stretch of silent bats during the first half, the two-and-a-half-month sprint to October is here.
“Now starts kind of a new journey,” shortstop Dansby Swanson said Friday. “There’s some sense of urgency of going out there and playing your best ball right off the bat.
“There’s no room to get things figured out. We’ve got to be ready today.”
This team hasn’t been shy about its championship-level expectations: World Series or bust.
But the Cubs haven’t exactly dominated to this point. Yes, they started the second half in playoff position but five games back of the Brewers in the NL Central.
What will it take to catch their division rivals? The Cubs say it’s focusing on making the second half a lot less bumpy than the first.
“That’s all that really matters at the end of the day: if we perform well,” Swanson said. “We can sit here and go through all the scenarios in the world, but what matters is this group stepping up and playing ball that it’s capable of doing.”
From here on, it’s all about October, all about finding a way to make October last longer than it did last year.
“We’re starting to average out and become the team we’re supposed to be,” righty reliever Phil Maton said. “But I think there’s a ton of room to grow. … The most important thing is being very hot in September. We’re really starting to show glimpses of it, and it’s starting to show, what kind of team we can be.
“The most fun baseball you can play is in October. It makes the regular season, honestly, feel kind of meaningless once you do it. But it’s the best.”
Injury updates
• Righty pitcher Jameson Taillon will make his long-awaited return from the injured list next week, starting a to-be-determined game during the series with the Tigers. The veteran hasn’t pitched since leaving a June 7 start with a hamstring strain.
• Righty pitcher Edward Cabrera is throwing off a mound as he comes back from his own strained hamstring, set to throw live batting practice at the start of the Cubs’ road trip next week. Manager Craig Counsell said Cabrera could “be a viable option” around the second week of August.
• The Cubs have had to “repeat some steps” in closer Daniel Palencia’s rehab, Counsell said. He’s in Arizona working back from elbow inflammation. That has pushed his estimated return back into the middle of next month.
• Having tested things out multiple times, utility man Matt Shaw is still feeling the hand sprain that sidelined him at the end of June. “That’s definitely going to be longer,” Counsell said of Shaw’s continued absence.
• Lefty reliever Hoby Milner could return from the IL around Aug. 1 following an appendectomy last month.
About face
Swanson was involved in one of the few plays of note in Friday’s 5-2 loss to the Twins, taking a baseball to the face after a throw to second appeared to redirect after hitting the hand of a sliding base-runner.
Swanson fell to the ground and received a lengthy visit from the trainer, eventually staying in the game.
He’ll be fine, Counsell reported postgame, but received some wound care.
“He’s not a dramatic person at all,” second baseman Nico Hoerner said, “so I know when he’s going down, there’s something going on. Obviously, a baseball to the face never feels good.
“He’s a tough guy, but that still doesn’t feel good.”
Funniest Cub?
Upon hearing a suggestion that third baseman Alex Bregman is secretly the funniest player in the Cubs’ clubhouse, Pete Crow-Armstrong had to make a correction.
“I don’t know who told you that,” the All-Star center fielder said. “Not true.”
OK, so who’s the laugh riot?
“Breggy’s probably not even top three, man,” he said. “[Taillon, lefty pitcher Shota Imanaga, outfielder Seiya Suzuki]. Seiya is probably the sneakiest funny guy we have.
“I love Breggy. And he is funny. He’s got good timing. But I don’t think he’s quite earned it yet. He’s earned about everything else in this clubhouse that we could want from him and he could want from us. Funniest? I don’t think he’s there yet.”
