MILWAUKEE — Cubs manager Craig Counsell made an interesting remark after a 4-3 loss to the Brewers on Monday that dropped his team a season-high eight games back of the National League Central leaders.
“When you play the best teams in the league, you have to do a lot of things right to beat them,” he said. “We did a lot of things right, but you have to do almost everything right to beat them.”
He was referring to the Brewers, of course, but shouldn’t he be referring to the Cubs, as well?
After all, the Cubs have some of the deepest pockets in baseball, they’re thought to have won the trade deadline and they have the best player in the game in Pete Crow-Armstrong. Aren’t they one of the best teams in the league?
The standings say so. The Cubs have the fifth-best winning percentage in the NL, but that’s only good enough for a wild-card spot as a road team. And would any potential playoff opponent be scared to face them in the best-of-three round?
These are the 2026 Cubs: good enough to compete, not good enough to win.
Another second-place finish awaits them after the Brewers did what the Brewers do, outscoring their opponent without hitting a home run — the Cubs outhomered them 2-0 — and delivering timely hits that drive the opposition nuts.
After the Cubs took the lead in the fifth inning on Pedro Ramirez’s homer, the Brewers answered in the bottom half on a single, a sacrifice bunt and Garrett Mitchell’s RBI single.
After the Cubs took the lead in the seventh with Brewers-like hitting — a single, a walk and Alex Bregman’s RBI single, all with two outs — the Brewers responded with three runs in the eighth, the big blow being Jackson Chourio’s go-ahead, two-run single.
Crow-Armstrong added to his legend with two stolen bases, giving him 35, and a homer in the ninth, giving him 41. But two outstanding defensive plays in that inning sealed the Cubs’ fate. Right fielder Luis Lara leaped at the wall to rob Ramirez of extra bases right before Crow-Armstrong’s blast, and left fielder Chourio stole a hit from Seiya Suzuki with a sliding grab.
Aren’t the Cubs the best defensive team in baseball? The Brewers can beat them there, too?
Even an outstanding performance from starter Matthew Boyd wasn’t enough. He pitched into the eighth, allowing three runs. But the bullpen gave up the fourth, which was the difference. And like Counsell said, against the best teams in the league, the margins are paper-thin.
“That’s what it comes down to with good baseball and baseball that you play at the end of the year with good teams,” said Boyd, who set the table for the Brewers’ eighth by walking Mitchell and allowing a double to Joey Ortiz. “This speaks to their ability.
“It’s something that I believe is a big part of our game, winning in those margins. And that’s something that they’ve done, that’s led them to those division titles over the past few years. They don’t give you much, and that’s what makes them so good.”
But aren’t the Cubs supposed to be so good? They’re on track to finish second to the Brewers for the third consecutive season under Counsell, whom the Cubs stole from the Brewers to beat them at their own game. The Brewers also clinched the season series and own the tiebreaker.
What happens if the Cubs make the wild-card round but lose, or they advance but lose to the Brewers in the NL Division Series for the second straight year? Counsell will enter the penultimate year of his contract next season. Team president Jed Hoyer received an extension last year. How many second-place finishes do they get?
With 17 games left and one of the toughest remaining schedules in baseball, the Cubs could have more at stake than just a playoff spot.
