The Cubs have lost five straight games, four straight series, and are 2-9 in their last 11 contests. After two ten-game winning streaks earlier this year, they sit in third place of a flourishing NL Central. Every team in the division is above .500, making things all the more frustrating.
It’s only May, with the Cubs having plenty of time to right the ship and turn things around, but this Brewers series felt especially important. It was the biggest series of the year thus far. And it was the first time the two teams had faced off since the 2025 NLDS, which the Brewers won in five games.
The Brewers have become the Cubs’ rivals over the last decade or so, surpassing even the Cardinals in some fans’ eyes (not that either is seen in a particularly positive light). When the Cubs stole Craig Counsell from Milwaukee, the hope was that some of that magic could transfer to Chicago, but that hasn’t been the case.
After Counsell was hired ahead of the 2024 season, the Cubs have gone 14-20 against the Brewers. Jed Hoyer’s expensive offseason brought hope that things would be different this season, but the Brewers put a damper on that optimism this week when they swept the Cubs *convincingly* at Wrigley Field.
Starting Pitching
The Brewers’ pitching is light-years ahead of the Cubs, which isn’t necessarily surprising. Not only do the Brewers have a mostly healthy rotation (minus the injured Brandon Woodruff), but they are all quality arms having great starts to the year. Put that against the Cubs’ injury-riddled staff, and it’s clear who had the advantage.
Brandon Sproat gave up three runs in 4.2 innings on Monday, but those runs were inconsequential given the fact that Shota Imanaga allowed a season-high eight runs, a poor time for him to have his worst start of the season.
The Brewers’ ace, Jacob Misiorowski, continued his fantastic season with six scoreless innings and eight strikeouts on Tuesday night. He went up against Ben Brown, who held his own with just three runs allowed in five innings. Brown was good, but it’s a rather impossible task to out-duel Misiorowski. At least, right now.
Last up for the Brewers was Kyle Harrison, whom they acquired from Boston in February for Caleb Durbin, a deal that looks absolutely horrible for the Red Sox at the moment. Harrison struck out 11 batters across seven scoreless innings, yet another outstanding performance.
We’re months away from the playoffs, but watching the Brewers’ rotation dominate what’s supposed to be an elite Cubs lineup should be a reality check. Not only about the offense, but also about the fact that the Cubs don’t have the best rotation in the division.
It’s hard to talk about the starting pitching without mentioning that the Cubs have three starting pitchers on the Injured List (Justin Steele, Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd), but we don’t know for sure when the rotation will get Steele or Boyd back.
Offense
The Cubs lineup has been nothing short of a mess during the last 11 games, with no improvements seen against the Brewers. This series, they left 16 men on base, going 2-18 with runners in scoring position. These numbers would have been worse, but they only had four baserunners on Wednesday night, so the LOB and RISP statistics weren’t really affected.
Leaving runners on base has been an issue for the Cubs all season. They’ve been great at reaching base, with a .338 OBP and 11.6% walk rate that are each ranked second in baseball. The problems begin when those runners reach base, as the Cubs lead baseball with 398 runners left on base throughout this young season.
Another one of this team’s strengths, along with reaching base at a high rate, is the lack of strikeouts. That strength was nonexistent against Milwaukee, with the offense striking out 36 times across the three games. Twelve of those strikeouts were looking, with the lack of competitive at-bats a legitimate concern.
The realistic issue with this lineup is that everyone is slumping at the same time. They’re a good offense that has proven their skill level plenty of times this year, but it’s not clicking for anyone at the moment.
As I mentioned above, the pitching they faced in this series was extremely good. However, they need to beat elite pitching in order to make a deep playoff run.
The Brewers, on the other hand, recorded 32 hits and 19 runs. They hit just three home runs, scoring most of their runs through regular base hits.
That’s one of the things that makes this Brewers lineup so frustrating to face, as has been the case for several years. They will hit home runs, but most of the time they grind at-bats and will wear pitchers down with several hits instead of one big home run.
Pete Crow-Armstrong could be his own category due to his defensive blunders and poor offensive performance as of late. Brett wrote about PCA’s recent happenings earlier today, diving deeper into the center fielder’s struggles.
After Tuesday’s loss, Ian Happ had a comment that sparked all kinds of emotions from Cubs fans, which I understand to a certain extent. If someone told you that the Cubs would have a 29-20 record through the first 49 games of the season, odds are most people would be pleased with that result. However, it’s not exactly what fans want to hear from Happ, who continues to struggle with runners in scoring position while also posting a strikeout rate of 32.1%.
"If you would have told us this was going to be our record at this point in the season, I think everyone would have signed up for it. Move on from here and attack tomorrow." Ian Happ and the Cubs are ready to reset and take care of business tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/Hrr6AosfJo
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) May 20, 2026The Cubs are now eight games above .500, admittedly an impressive mark for any team this early in the season.
Nonetheless, losing back-to-back series to the White Sox and Brewers is not ideal, not to mention the preceding series losses to the Rangers and Braves. Today’s off day should be a huge help to reset things and get everyone back in a better mindset, with the team’s schedule looking a lot easier (hopefully) over the next few weeks.
Hence then, the article about brewers sweep at wrigley highlights several recent cubs struggles was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Brewers Sweep at Wrigley Highlights Several Recent Cubs Struggles )
Also on site :