Are you worried about the Brewers? The Cubs aren't … yet

New York Times

13 hours ago

CHICAGO — It's July 21, less than two weeks from the trade deadline, and you know exactly where the Cubs are: At the top.
But you also know it's crowded up there and it's a long way down.
The Cubs (59-40) are a half-game out from the best record in baseball and tied for the lead in the NL Central.
They came into Sunday's game with sole possession of the best record and a chance to sweep the Red Sox out of Wrigley Field, but Boston scored six runs on three homers in the seventh and eighth innings to score a 6-1 getaway day victory.
Alex Bregman comes up CLUTCH with a pinch-hit 3-run homer 😮 pic.twitter.com/H1yNreNLdx
— MLB (@MLB) July 20, 2025
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the Milwaukee Brewers (59-40) finished off another three-game sweep of the Dodgers with a 6-5 win. They have won 10 in a row, with six coming against the injury-riddled 'best team in baseball.'
So, to sum it up, the Cubs, who had sole possession of first place in the division since April 12, are now tied with Milwaukee.
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Cubs fans are probably either mildly perturbed or in full panic mode. But Chicago's players and coaches do this for a living, and they know how to read a calendar.
'I mean, look, the Brewers are a good baseball team,' former Brewers and current Cubs manager Craig Counsell said before the Boston series started. 'I'm not sure there's anything we can do, other than when we play them, to prevent them from winning. We have a lot to do with whether we win or not. So it's really easy. … That's just what you focus on.'
As you can tell from his regular hangdog expressions in news conferences, Counsell is a worrier by nature. But it's not just cliché time when he talks like this. They play every day, after all. This isn't the NFL.
Eventually, it's time to watch the old manual scoreboard in center field, but we're about six weeks before the players start really paying attention to division races.
'I think you're, like, aware of when other teams are playing well,' Cubs outfielder Ian Happ said before Sunday's game, 'but we're pretty focused on just our day to day and we've been playing really good baseball on a daily basis, and that's all you can control.'
The @Brewers hold on against the Dodgers and are now tied with the Cubs atop the NL Central! pic.twitter.com/rwE6EgkG4j
— MLB (@MLB) July 20, 2025
Happ mentioned that the players were well aware they were chasing the Brewers the last two Septembers. The team's 2023 collapse down the stretch cost them a wild-card berth and manager David Ross his job. Counsell left Milwaukee for greener pastures (i.e. more money) and the Cubs are paying him to guide this team through the next 2 1/2 months and into October. He's done a pretty good job this year.
This was the 15th time the Cubs have 'Meatloaf'd it,' which is Joe Maddon parlance for winning two of three (or three of four) in a series. They also have five sweeps.
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As long as this lineup stays healthy, I feel confident the Cubs won't fall out of a playoff spot this time around, but winning the division and getting the first-round bye is certainly a carrot to chase. Not including the 2020 sham of a season, the Cubs haven't won the division since 2017. Since 2018, Milwaukee has won it four times.
Winning the division is important. Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer didn't trade for Kyle Tucker in their respective walk years just to win the division, but it's the first step.
'It hasn't played out that way in some years, but I would say there's no question that the value of a one or two seed is immense,' Hoyer said before Friday's game. 'I mean, just taking a two-out-of-three series against a very good team off the table. Mathematically, it's a no-brainer that it's a huge advantage.'
There are eight games remaining (including a make-up one) between the Cubs and Brewers, starting with the July 28-30 series in Milwaukee that happens to fall on the trade deadline. You couldn't schedule it any better. Counsell better bring his earplugs.
Before then, the Cubs have six games against the Royals at home and the White Sox on the South Side. Milwaukee is at Seattle and home against the Marlins. I'm guessing they'll be within a game of each other come next Monday.
'They're a really good team,' Hoyer said. 'I don't think they're going to go away. They're really good. They played really well, especially over the last 30 games or so. They played excellent baseball. It might have changed the calculus, but certainly, I don't expect the race to change. I expect us to play well. I expect them to play well.'
Could a tight division race benefit the Cubs?
'I think there's something to that, yeah,' Hoyer said. 'I think that there's something to that, a sense of urgency. I don't think this group lacks for urgency ever, but I do think there is something potentially good about that, that you have someone at your heels.'
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The last series, which will be the rare five-gamer because of a rain-induced doubleheader, is in late August, which could make that September scoreboard watching extra tense and late September even more urgent.
That's in the future. In the present, the presence of the Brewers puts even more pressure on Hoyer to make additions at the deadline. The needs remain the same: bullpen, third base, starting rotation. He might not be able to land stars — the array of sellers isn't melting his phone just yet — but he needs players who can help get the Cubs to October and contribute when the postseason begins.
'We're not overhauling that group,' Hoyer said. 'It's about this group right here, and we're going to try to supplement that group as much as possible.'
Sunday's loss showed how precarious a bullpen can be as Ryan Pressly, Drew Pomeranz and Ethan Roberts each gave up a home run.
It was Boston third baseman Alex Bregman who hit the dagger three-run shot in the eighth to make it 5-1. I'm sure Hoyer wasn't thinking at all about that time he almost signed him. (It was this spring.) Both Hoyer and Counsell answered a series of questions about rookie Matt Shaw's tenuous status as the starting third baseman. He plays the only position where the Cubs could add a starter, and he's hitting .210.
On Monday, the Cubs will start Ryan Brasier, one of their many late-30s relievers, in a bullpen game against the Royals. That's not ideal, but the good news for the Cubs is that no team in baseball is better after a loss.
'It feels like if we lose a game, we've done a great job of coming back the next day and getting a win,' Happ said Sunday.
He's not wrong. The Cubs are 29-10 after a defeat. It's the most impressive factoid about their season. They've lost two in a row six times and three in a row just twice.
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And get this, the Cubs are the only team in baseball that hasn't lost at least four games in a row this season.
Of course, Milwaukee is one of the few that hasn't lost more than four. They did it once and it was the first four games of the season. The Brewers were 25-28 on May 24 and they're 34-12 ever since. So, yeah, don't expect them to fall apart anytime soon.
But as they said, the Cubs don't need to worry about them just yet. They just need to go about their business, winning two of three, four of six, eight of 12, just as they've done all season.
(Photo of Dansby Swanson high-fiving Nico Hoerner after scoring in the second inning on Sunday: Matt Marton / Imagn Images)