AP Photo/John McDonnell

The Rundown: Cubs Hoping for ‘Craigtember to Remember,’ Hoyer Counting on Caissie, Ohtani Nearing 50-50

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterSeptember 3, 2024

“Days turn to minutes and minutes to memories.” – John Mellencamp, Minutes to Memories

The Cubs lost a big game on Monday they should have won as baseball begins its push for the postseason. Chicago is 3.5 games behind the Braves in the Wild Card race with the Mets positioned between both. The Cubs and Pirates will play the second game of their series this evening while the Braves host the Rockies and the Mets welcome the Red Sox.

Jameson Taillon deserved a win last night and might have had one if Tyson Miller and Porter Hodge pitched in the 8th and 9th innings instead of Jorge López and Shawn Armstrong. López allowed four runs and surrendered Chicago’s 3-0 lead. Neither Miller nor Hodge pitched on Sunday so I’m not sure why Craig Counsell took that path. Nobody expects the Cubs to win every game but giving away a near-certain victory in early September stings a lot more than most losses.

“We put López in the game,” Counsell said in his postgame interview. “He’s been wonderful. He’s pitched wonderfully. Obviously didn’t have a good night tonight, but that was the decision…and it was an easy decision.”

To make matters worse, the Pirates will send Paul Skenes to the mound for Game 2 of the series, which makes tonight’s tilt a must-win contest. The Cubs will counter with Kyle Hendricks and desperately need a vintage performance by The Professor. Justin Steele was supposed to go tonight, but he’s been scratched due to elbow soreness. The Yankees come to town after an off day on Thursday so beating up on Pittsburgh is critical, especially since the Cubs fly to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers starting Monday.

There is a flip side to the upcoming schedule. If the Cubs can continue to light it up offensively against the likes of Skenes, the Yankees, and the Dodgers, they’d announce to all of baseball that they’re a legitimate contender in the playoff race. Counsell’s team finished 18-8 in August, and they’ve always called September “Craigtember” up here in Milwaukee because of Counsell’s effectiveness as a late-season skipper.

To put things simply, the Cubs will be postseason-bound if they play one game better than the Mets and the Braves in each of this season’s final four weeks. That doesn’t sound like an unattainable goal, particularly given Chicago’s relatively weak remaining schedule. That said, the margin for error is painfully significant. The Diamondbacks beat up on the Cubs last year, finished one game ahead of Chicago in the Wild Card race, and went to the World Series. Let’s hope Counsell finds a way to make this month a “Craigtember to Remember” in Chicago.

Cubs News & Notes

Odds & Sods

The Mendoza line seems outdated in a game that now skews favorably toward pitching. Enter Zack Greinke.

Magic Eight Ball

I picked up a Magic Eight Ball at a Rummage sale on Saturday and I’ll rely on the spherical fortune-telling device this month to assess Chicago’s playoff chances at the start of each week.

This morning’s response: “Outlook Good”

A weaker schedule could be the deciding factor but Chicago’s North Side Baseballers will have to play well against the Yankees, Dodgers, and Phillies, too. Let’s check the remaining opponents for each team.

  • Braves (74-63 overall | 36-28 at home | 38-35 away | .484 remaining strength of schedule): Rockies (3), Dodgers (3), Reds (1) Mets (3), and Royals (3) at home. Away games vs. the Nationals (2), Reds (3), and Marlins (3).
  • Mets (74-64 | 36-33 | 38-31 | .531): Red Sox (2), Reds (3), Nationals (3), and Phillies (3) at home. Away games vs. the Blue Jays (3), Phillies (3), Braves (3), and Brewers (3).
  • Cubs (71-67 | 36-30 | 35-37 | .495): Pirates (2), Yankees (3), Athletics (3), Nationals (4), and Reds (3) at Wrigley Field. Away games vs. the Dodgers (3), Rockies (3), and Phillies (3).

Cincinnati plays all three teams and will embrace its role as a potential spoiler.

Ball Four

A conflict exists for those who love the Cubs but dislike president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer. Though Hoyer is unlikely to lose his job, failing to make the 2024 postseason will put a lot of pressure on him entering 2025. Nobody wants to root against Chicago though.

The Cubs proved in August that they can play consistent winning baseball after digging a deep hole in May, June, and July. As much as I dislike Hoyer, that shouldn’t be enough to get him fired. In his defense, he made some great value pickups as the season progressed, namely López, Miller, and Nate Pearson. I’ll be interested to see how the Cubs rebound from last night’s loss. Beating Skenes would give the Cubs the two-game wash most expected with Wednesday’s rubber game favoring the North Siders because Shōta Imanaga is pitching.

A win tonight will be the springboard to a strong September. I’ve got the Cubs going 17-7 the rest of the way if they win tonight. Will 88 wins get them into the playoffs? I believe it will.

Central Intelligence

How About That!

The Yankees, Mets, Nationals, and Giants are the favorites to sign Juan Soto according to several MLB insiders.

Brewers rookie outfielder Jackson Chourio predicted he would hit a grand slam even though the bases were empty when he called it.

Milwaukee’s Willy Adames has hit home runs in five straight games, tying the MLB record for shortstops.

Shohei Ohtani needs six home runs and four stolen bases to establish baseball’s 50/50 Club.

Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston says Aaron Judge is the best player in baseball. Cranston is a die-hard Dodgers fan, so it’s interesting that he took Judge over Ohtani.

The White Sox are now on a pace to finish 36-126.

Nick Castellanos believes owners should be fined for letting their teams purposely tank. I think MLB needs to stop rewarding failure.

Just For Fun

Rank these teams by the number of games they will win in September.

  1. White Sox
  2. Bears

That’s Gonna Leave a Mark

Christopher Morel is the only batter in baseball with a sub-.200 batting average and a qualifying number of at-bats. The ex-Cub enters play today with a .196 average in 542 plate appearances.

Extra Innings

A hot September for the streaky Dansby Swanson is always at the top of my wishlist.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

I’ve got the Bears going 11-6 and entering the 2024 NFL playoffs as one of three NFC North representatives. I like Caleb Williams, but it will be his supporting cast and Chicago’s defense that wins games this year.

They Said It

  • “Like the players [do], it’s staying in the fight. It’s staying with it. Keep coaching. Because things can turn. We don’t get to [pick when]. You just don’t predict it. In the marathon of a season, there is time. Even though you can say there’s not, there’s time. So I think we’ve done a really good job of continuing the coaching and continuing the teaching. And not letting something just be the way it is and [saying]: ‘We can’t figure this out.’ We’ve stayed in the fight in that way. And then the players have stayed in the fight. It’s good to get rewarded with some positive results. That kind of validates your work. And I think, in the coaching staff’s case, it certainly has validated some of their work.” – Counsell
  • “I think [Counsell’s] demeanor is real. He doesn’t get too high and too low. And I think that kind of builds into something, that he’s not exhausting everyone by constantly going up and down, up and down, and having the team worried about him being volatile. And then I do think that he’s very thoughtful throughout the year about workloads and about exhausting guys. It feels like he’s always taking (in) the big picture.” – Hoyer

Tuesday Walk-Up Song

This song by Anders Osborne was in heavy rotation during my annual Labor Day Back Porch Hootenanny.

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterSeptember 3, 2024
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