3 takeaways as the Chicago Chicago reach the halfway mark of the 2025 season with a 48-33 record

Chicago Tribune

20 hours ago

ST. LOUIS — The Chicago Cubs, on pace for a 96-win season, almost couldn't script a better first-half performance than the one a playoffs-or-bust group delivered.
Despite losing ace Justin Steele to a season-ending injury in April and then being without lefty Shota Imanaga for seven weeks until his return Thursday in St. Louis, the Cubs finished the first half in first place in the National League Central with a 48-33 record and three games up on the second-place Milwaukee Brewers.
Their 48 wins halfway through the season are their most in a decade, dating back to the 2016 World Series championship season (51 wins). The Cubs were seven games under .500 last year through the first 81 games. They own a winning record at the midpoint for the first time since 2021 (42-39).
The Cubs are in an unfamiliar position of not, at this point, needing to go on a run to prove to the front office they should add to the roster. Instead, they are positioned to be one of the best teams in baseball by the end of the year.
'You have to be pleased with how we've played the first half, but it's a looking-back thing, and so that doesn't guarantee you anything moving forward — it just showed you you can be a good baseball team, manager Craig Counsell said Thursday.
'It gives you confidence you can be a good baseball team. Now you have to do it for another 81 games. It's why the regular season in baseball is a great test that involves everything. It involves injuries, it involves struggles, it involves winning streaks, losing streaks.'
As the Cubs look to deliver a strong second-half performance that leads them back to the postseason for the first time in a full season since 2018, there are three takeaways from their first-half effort.
One of the biggest questions surrounding the Cubs coming into the year was who would step up in a largely unproven bullpen. Three months in, the group has collectively been one of the team's greatest strengths.
Cubs relievers' 3.37 ERA is the fifth-lowest among big-league bullpens and they have been among the best in stranding runners on base with a 74.2% left on base percentage, which ranks sixth.
'I always sit at this time of year and talk about how we struggled early in the year in the bullpen and trying to find the path for everybody, and then got on a great run,' pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said Thursday. 'And to me, the stabilizing part of this team was when the bullpen became this really focused, important group that you could trust.'
How the Cubs have built their bullpen has been equally impressive and done without a prototypical proven shutdown closer, as the role has vacillated from veteran Ryan Pressly to Porter Hodge and now to 25-year-old Daniel Palencia.
The Cubs have brought out the best in a trio of relievers whose contributions have certainly exceeded projections. Drew Pomeranz's 24 consecutive appearances without an earned run allowed to begin the season was the team's longest since Andrew Chafin's 26 straight to open the 2021 season. Pomeranz, a 36-year-old lefty who had not pitched in the majors since 2021, has struck out 20 and walked six in 21 ⅔ innings.
Chris Flexen didn't allow his first earned run until Sunday and has a 0.75 ERA in 24 innings (14 appearances). Brad Keller's stuff has boosted as a full-time reliever with a fastball up 3 mph from 2024, helping him post a 1.96 ERA over 36 ⅔ innings while producing the best strikeout-to-walk rate of his eight years in the majors.
'That group has really helped our team solidify what we do to win games,' Hottovy said. 'What we've proven as a team is we can score runs early, but we can definitely score runs late, too. And when your bullpen can hold you, that gives you the confidence as a team that you can score at any point in the game, which makes you pretty dangerous.'
The Cubs expected the offseason addition of star Kyle Tucker to make the offense more dynamic, and he certainly has lived up to expectations.
Paired with breakout offensive performances by Pete Crow-Armstrong, the first player to 20-20 in the majors this year, Seiya Suzuki, who has already matched last year's 21 home runs while his league-leading 67 RBIs are only seven shy of his career high, and Michael Busch's unheralded production (.273/.363/.506 slash line with 13 homers, 46 RBIs and a 148 OPS+), and the Cubs have been rolling offensively.
The Cubs rank in the top five in most key offensive categories, including runs (second), home runs (third), batting average (third), doubles (fourth), slugging percentage (fourth), on-base percentage (fifth) and walks (seventh).
'We're sitting in a good spot, we've played a really good brand of baseball, I think that's the most impressive regardless of the record,' outfielder Ian Happ said Thursday. 'The most exciting thing about the first half is we've run the bases, played great defense, the offense has showed up, bullpen has been dominant, starting pitching has been really good.
'I think this group has a lot of belief in what we're doing on a day-to-day basis.'
A six-month season inherently brings adversity. The Cubs have largely been able to navigate injuries through the first three months, though being without a starter of Steele's caliber will likely be felt in October if the Cubs get there.
But even amid what was a challenging stretch that saw the Cubs lose five of six games and a three-game skid that was snapped with Wednesday's win, there hasn't been the type of calamity-esque stretches that defined the first half of their last two seasons.
81 down, 81 to go: What to watch for in the 2nd half of the season for Cubs and White SoxThe Cubs are only one of three teams — joining the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros — who haven't endured a losing streak of more than three games. It's a testament to their offensive consistency, steady bullpen and key starters stepping up, like lefty Matthew Boyd, who has been stellar this year.
'It's just going out every day and expecting to win and feeling like you're in a really good place,' Happ said. 'We've put ourselves in that position from the April and May that we put together. It's been a little bit up and down here the last couple weeks, but a good couple of games put us in a position to keep rolling and just play that brand of baseball that we believe in.'