Young hitters spark Cubs' surge

The Chicago Cubs seemed to be looking to the future at the July 30 trade deadline.

They dealt right-handed reliever Mark Leiter Jr. to the New York Yankees and shipped Christopher Morel to the Tampa Bay Rays in a swap of third basemen that seemed like a wash.

Vice president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and general manager Carter Hawkins did nothing to bolster the Cubs’ postseason chances. Those playoff hopes seemingly took another hit when reliever Hector Neris was released on Aug. 20.

Yet we’ve arrived at Labor Day weekend and the Cubs still have a chance to get to the postseason for the first time since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Not great, mind you, but a chance.

The Cubs remain on the fringe of the National League pennant race, trailing the Atlanta Braves for the third and final wild card. However, the Cubs have played so well over the last month – they are 17-8 since July 31 -- that they aren’t ready to count themselves out of playing October.

This week, a three-game sweep of the Pirates raised the Cubs’ record to 68-66, putting them two games over .500 for the first time since they were 27-25 on May 25. Chicago annihilated the Pirates pitching staff, scoring 41 runs in the series.

“We’ve had a lot of belief in this group,” shortstop Dansby Swanson said. “We had some tough stretches early, but I think what you’re seeing now is it’s something that we’re capable of being able to perform at a high level consistently and gotten a lot of contributions from a lot of people. A lot of young guys have really stepped up and grown their game, which has made our team deeper. Our bullpen has been outstanding. Our starters have been great for us all year. And I feel like the offense is finding its stride, too. So, it’s definitely a fun time right now.”

Two young hitters at the bottom of the Cubs’ lineup – 22-year-old rookie center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and 25-year-old catcher Miguel Amaya – have helped spark the late-season surge.

Armstrong is hitting .342/.412/.605 in his last 23 games with four home runs and six stolen bases. In his last 32 games, Amaya is slashing .342/.397/.549 with five homers while seemingly putting to rest the idea that one of the Cubs’ offseason priorities will be upgrading at catcher.

“Having depth in the lineup one through nine is a big deal in the game today,” Swanson said. “We have that now with the way Pete and Miguel have been hitting at the bottom of the order. There aren’t any soft spots in our lineup.”

The Cubs also have four players in the lineup at Triple-A Iowa who are ranked among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects – third baseman Matt Shaw (41), outfielder Owen Caissie (48), catcher Moises Ballesteros (68) and outfielder Kevin Alcantara (84).

Those players give Hoyer and Hawkins options when looking ahead to 2025. Some could be plugged into the lineup that is 15th in MLB in runs this season with an average of 4.48 a game or used in potential trades to bolster an already solid pitching staff, whose 3.80 ERA ranks ninth in the major leagues. 

For now, first-year manager Craig Counsell is focusing on the present.

The Cubs are playing their best baseball of the season after struggling early under Counsell, who was lured from the NL Central rival Milwaukee Brewers with a five-year, $40-million contract in the offseason. It is the most lucrative deal for a manager in baseball history.

“I think we’ve got our bullpen in a pretty good place. We’ve got some young guys and guys we’ve brought on during the season,” Counsell said. “Our offense, in terms of consistency, has gotten better since we’ve gotten healthy.

“Our focus is just on winning series. If you win every series, you’ll have a pretty good record at the end of the year. We’ll just try to keep winning series and see where that takes us.”