Soft Schedule Helping Cubs Say Goodbye to Sunday Scaries

Heading into their third game against the White Sox back on May 18, the Cubs were 1-6 on Sundays and 4-11 in series finales. Their latest win over the Reds was their third straight on a Sunday and fifth straight in a finale, bringing them to 4-6 and 9-11 in those respective situations. Finishing with a pair of wins over Cincinnati was almost enough to erase the ignominy of dropping their first series opener at Wrigley on Friday.

Thanks to an 18-9 record in May and a win to open June, the Cubs have jumped out to a four-game lead in the division and are tied with the Mets (37-22) for the best record in the National League. Only the Tigers (39-21) have a better record, and the Cubs will visit Detroit this weekend to test their mettle. Making that matchup even more fun is the fact that Javy Báez and Pete Crow-Armstrong could both be manning center field.

The Cubs will also face all-world lefty Tarik Skubal, who was pushed back to take the Friday start against them. He’s the best pitcher in the game right now, so that matchup will have a bit of a postseason feel to it. There’s a very good chance of both teams getting to October based on their current standings, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs. Since 1996, 100 of 168 division champs held at least a share of their division lead on June 1. Those are decent odds.

Then you consider how the Cubs have the largest division lead in the NL and the Tigers (6.0) have the largest in the AL. The Cards could still make some noise, especially since the Cubs still have yet to play them this season, and the Brewers have rattled off seven straight wins. And over in the AL, the White Sox are the only Central team under .500 at this point.

June could be very fun.

It could also be quite a grind, especially since the Cubs have just two off-days after four breaks in May and six in April. They will play on Thursday four times in June, two more than they have played all season. Yes, the Cubs have been off for eight of 10 Thursdays this year, and it’d be nine of 11 if we counted the day after their two-game set against the Dodgers in Tokyo. What an odd fluke.

Starting with Tuesday in Washington, the Cubs will play 13 straight games and then 26 games in 27 days before resting on the last day of June. That’s going to be a very important stretch for an inconsistent pitching staff that has continued to succeed despite injuries and turnover. The bullpen has become a real strength over the last several weeks, but it’s a little easier to manage that unit when availability isn’t at a premium. Getting longer starts on a regular basis will be imperative over the next four weeks.

Getting through the first part of the schedule with a .500 or better record was the first hurdle, and the Cubs accomplished that with relative ease. Then came May and a bevy of beatable teams, and the Cubs made it work with a pair of sweeps and seven series wins. Being 15 games over gives them a good deal of wiggle room, but they still can’t afford to let off the gas pedal for very long.