The thing about preseason football is that it is definitely legit and tells you how good a team is going to be. So the Bears are gonna be freaking awesome this year under Ben Johnson.
The Cubs risked dropping a fourth straight series this weekend at the same time the Brewers ripped off a 14-game winning streak. That’s the kind of thing that can end your divisional hopes. Thankfully, the Cubs avoided that by beating the Pirates twice this weekend – and the Brewers actually finally lost a game! – but I’d still take the position that the NL Central as a goal for the Cubs is probably toast. Sure, if the Cubs can sweep these five games, then it’s TOTALLY back in the picture, as the Cubs would be only 3.0 games back. But even a 4-1 series victory, which is still pretty unlikely purely from a math perspective, would leave the Cubs 5.0 games back with only a little over a month to play. That would take the Cubs playing out of their minds the rest of the way, and the Brewers playing like, you know, a normal regular team. Not sure I see those things happening. None of which is to say I’m not hoping the Cubs can win any and every game in this series. It’s just that, realistically, I’m thinking more about trying to hold down that top Wild Card spot and ensure that the Cubs at least get to play the Wild Card round at home. Cade Horton will start game one today, with Jameson Taillon expected to come off the IL for game two. The timing of Javier Assad’s and Taillon’s returns means the Cubs didn’t really have to tweak their rotation order at all despite playing 14 games in 13 days. Gonna need the bats to step up at some point soon if the Cubs are going to hold onto that top Wild Card spot or make a shocking run in the division. Scoring 10 runs in a three-game series against the Pirates without facing Paul Skenes is not good. I do feel like we’re starting to see some signs of life, though, with better contact quality over the past week from most of the Cubs. The one exception is Kyle Tucker, who is really going through it:Kyle Tucker was just boo’d after he grounded out to first and didn’t run to first base. pic.twitter.com/4jVhi9z5yK
— Cubs Zone (@CubsZone) August 17, 2025 I don’t get TOO mad about the not-running thing there, because it was right up the first base line and immediately snagged by the first baseman – it was basically an out or foul, and Tucker was clearly hoping it was foul. But when you’re slumping as badly as he is, I can also understand the fans not loving to see him not run. Speaking of which, this would have a lot more teeth if the outfield group hadn’t collectively been slumping for a month:“We’re gonna play the best guys everyday. Owen will be involved tomorrow.”Craig Counsell on today’s lineup. pic.twitter.com/S0Vu6Za36Y
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) August 17, 2025 Owen Caissie will start one of the games today, I’m sure, since it’s a double-header. But don’t expect anything certain beyond that. © John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images We can’t take TOO much away from it, but Miguel Amaya already throwing with some intent seems like a good sign about that ankle being potentially return-able before the end of the season:Miguel Amaya was playing catch at Wrigley Field this morning! pic.twitter.com/9o04EqoyC9
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) August 17, 2025 Another one-run save opportunity for the Cubs yesterday taken by not Daniel Palencia. Officially, he was under the weather on Saturday, and I presume that was the case on Sunday, too. Hopefully the expectation was that if he were given one more day of rest, he’d be available today during the double-header. Matt Shaw got pulled for an inning-lead-off-pinch-hitter yesterday (that’s the one chance you give Owen Caissie all weekend?), despite being the hottest hitter on the team, and it looked like Justin Turner was talking him through it:Justin Turner is a great teammate pic.twitter.com/bULSv4fo0W
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) August 17, 2025 Caleb Kilian has finally returned to Iowa after a long rehab, and threw two scoreless innings yesterday with a couple strikeouts (and a couple walks). He touched 99 mph. I cannot tell a lie, this is awesome:Legend. pic.twitter.com/Tq1ZbnXO11
— Mike (@ChiSoxFanMike) August 17, 2025MORE CUBS FROM BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN Newsletter
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