AP Photo/David Zalubowski

The Rundown: Cubs Reach 80 Wins, Give Counsell Due Respect, Hitters Solving Misiorowski

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterSeptember 3, 2025

“This song is an instrumental. Just play it loud.” – The In Crowd by The Ramsey Lewis Trio

Hey, look at that. The Cubs are tied for the second-best record in baseball after Tuesday night’s 4-3 win over the Braves. Chicago now trails the Brewers by five games with 23 to play, and their magic number to make the playoffs is 14. Is Craig Counsell still a bad manager? Counsell’s Cubs are 163-138 (.542) in two seasons, which bests his winning percentage with Milwaukee (.531).

It should be easy to give a guy with 870 career wins the benefit of the doubt, but Counsell’s detractors heavily outnumber those who’d rather not see somebody else on the top step of Chicago’s dugout. I’d never accuse any fan of being entitled, but Chicago’s North Side Baseballers have just one championship in 117 years, and they’ve employed just five managers who have a winning career record since Leo Durocher was fired in 1972. Counsell is one, and the others are Joe Maddon (.581), Jim Frey (.519), Lou Piniella (.519), and Don Zimmer (.509). You’d think Jim Marshall was managing this team instead of Counsell.

The Cubs are playing at a 93-win pace, which would have won the NL Central last year, the year before, and the year before that. Imagine where this team might be had Justin Steele, Shōta Imanaga, and Jameson Taillon not missed so many starts due to injury. Counsell’s made some mistakes, but every manager does. I can’t imagine that Dave Roberts suddenly stinks at his job because the Dodgers aren’t playing at a 120-win pace. The Braves have 62 wins, so I suppose Brian Snitker, who is 797-659 (.547) in 9-plus seasons, sucks.

Matt Shaw, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Daniel Palencia, and Cade Horton are developing nicely, and Counsell deserves the bulk of the credit for that. The Cubs haven’t had so many rookies and second-year players assimilate as well since Kris Bryant, Javier Báez, and Kyle Schwarber made the bigs. We should expect similar trajectories from Owen Caissie, Kevin Alcántara, Moisés Ballesteros, and Jaxon Wiggins.

Heck, I can’t wait to see what Counsell does with 2025 picks Ethan Conrad and Kane Kepley. Conrad is built like Christian Yelich and similarly flashes five tools, though Chase DeLauter is a better comp, while Kepley is an on-base machine. The future does look bright, but let’s focus on the now instead.

The Cubs have missed the playoffs every year since 2020 and haven’t won a postseason game since ’17. Still, they currently have a 99.8% chance of making the playoffs with an 8% chance of winning the World Series. If they somehow manage to win the division, Counsell should be Manager of the Year. For those who dislike Chicago’s skipper, it’s time to choose another battle.

Cubs News & Notes

Ball Four

It might be best to let Framber Valdez do whatever he wants to do.

Central Intelligence

  • Milwaukee (85-54): Jacob Misiorowski pitched to an unsightly 9.58 ERA in his August starts and Brewers fans want Pat Murphy to ease the rookie’s workload, but the manager doesn’t intend to change Misiorowski’s role for now. Regression was always inevitable, and patient hitters are teeing off on the rookie’s mistakes. Milwaukee has won just six of its last 15 contests.
  • Chicago (80-59): The best option with Tucker is to play it safe for now, though that calculus could change quickly. The Cubs are off tomorrow before hosting the Nationals on Friday, and have a 3.5-game lead on the Padres for the top Wild Card seed. San Diego visits Colorado this week while Milwaukee heads to Pittsburgh.
  • Cincinnati (70-69): The Reds picked up Ke’Bryan Hayes, Zack Littell, and Miguel Andujar at the trade deadline, and all have helped the team considerably. Cincinnati is trying to hold off the surging Giants for the final NL Wild Card spot. Both teams have have same record, but the Reds own the tiebreaker.
  • St. Louis (69-71): Breakout reliever Riley O’Brien underwent an MRI on his sore right shoulder, and the Cardinals are shutting him down indefinitely pending a medical course of action.
  • Pittsburgh (55-83): Barring a late-season meltdown, it looks like Paul Skenes will walk away with the 2025 NL Cy Young Award.

Wild Pitch

“Everybody’s hustling just to have a little scene. When I say we’ll be cool I think that you know what I mean.” – Sunshine Superman by Donovan

How About That!

Shohei Ohtani hit his 100th home run since signing with the Dodgers, and it was the hardest he’s ever hit a baseball.

The Rockies have found all kinds of ways to lose this season, but at least they won’t break the record for most losses in a season, held by the 2024 White Sox.

Mariners manager Dan Wilson was tossed by the umpires last night while Piniella was a guest in the dugout.

Andrew Heaney rejoined the Dodgers on a minor league deal and is postseason-eligible.

Apropos of Nothing

Today’s musical selections remind me of Batman and Jill St. John doing the “Batusi.”

Extra Innings

The Des Moines Register now requires a subscription, but if you have access, this is a tremendous story. Kudos to Tommy Birch for reporting it. You can read more about Ryker Colón without paywall protection here.

They Said It

  • “I kind of felt a little soreness the last couple days. Felt it decently when I came today, and I tried to do some treatment and get ahead of it before the game as best I could. Going into the game, it felt all right, but as the game went it got a little more sore and tight. Eventually, I was like, I’d rather not test this any further and make it any more than it really is.”– Tucker
  • “[Tucker] is not going to play tomorrow. We just gotta see how he feels on Friday. We’ll be cautious, absolutely. Let’s see how it feels Friday, and we’ll go from there.” – Counsell

Wednesday Walk-Up Song

Good Day, Cubs fans! Let’s pick up another game on the Brewers this evening, weather permitting.

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterSeptember 3, 2025
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