Manager Craig Counsell was supposed to be the answer. The Chicago Cubs shelled out a record-breaking managerial contract on 2023 to pry him away from Milwaukee, luring him with both money and a chance to build something new on a bigger stage. But as the 2025 season enters its final stretch, it’s the Brewers—Counsell’s old team—that are looking like the real juggernaut in the NL Central. Meanwhile, the Cubs are slipping, and there’s no way around it: his decision to walk away from Milwaukee looks worse by the day.
Same Craig, Different Results
The Cubs had a six-and-a-half-game lead on Milwaukee on June 17. Today, they trail the Brewers by four. That’s a 10.5-game swing in less than two months. Milwaukee now owns the best record in baseball. Chicago? Just trying to keep its head above the Wild Card waterline.
When asked about the team that’s overtaken his own, Counsell did his best to keep the focus inward. “I don’t really spend much time thinking about that,” he said earlier this week to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. “We have five more games where we can control their outcomes. Time spent worrying about them other than that is not helpful.”
That’s a nice soundbite. But if Counsell isn’t thinking about Milwaukee, he’s the only one in Wrigleyville who isn’t.
The Cubs’ front office failed to reinforce a pitching staff in desperate need of help at the trade deadline. Their only starting pitcher acquisition, Mike Soroka, hit the IL after just two innings. Meanwhile, the Brewers just keep winning, thanks to a familiar formula: deep pitching, clutch hitting, and zero panic. You know—the same traits Counsell built during his time in Milwaukee.
The Wrong Kind of Legacy
It’s hard not to wonder if Counsell misread the room when he left Milwaukee. The Brewers never blinked. They didn’t replace him with a splashy name. They just elevated Pat Murphy and kept the train moving. And now they’re running laps around the Cubs while Counsell tries to explain away another 2-run, 4-hit performance.
“It’s so easy to get caught up in looking ahead and scoreboard watching,” Cubs veteran Justin Turner said this week. “Watching the scoreboard, seeing what other teams are doing isn’t going to help us.”
Unfortunately, the Cubs can’t help but watch. Their lineup is ice cold. In their first five games of August, Chicago has hit just .192 with a .295 slugging percentage. The top half of their order—Kyle Tucker, Carson Kelly, Dansby Swanson, Michael Busch, Seiya Suzuki—has cratered. Outside of rookie Matt Shaw and the occasional spark from Pete Crow-Armstrong, this offense looks broken.
Counsell has tried to downplay the pressure, preaching patience, resets, and perspective. But his players—especially those who followed him to Chicago with high expectations—are pressing. Tucker, who was once an MVP candidate, hasn’t looked the same since a minor finger injury in June. He says it’s fine. His numbers say otherwise.
And all the while, Milwaukee keeps rolling.
Perhaps this Cubs team will figure it out. Maybe their stars start hitting again, and they reel off a 10-game heater that flips the script. But right now, the Brewers are everything the Cubs are not: consistent, resilient, and terrifyingly efficient.
Craig Counsell was supposed to bring that culture with him to Chicago. Instead,as the Brewers surge and the Cubs falter, it’s clear: the identity Counsell was hired to create remains just out of reach—and for now, it’s thriving in Milwaukee, not Wrigleyville.
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