AP Photo/Terrance Williams

The Rundown: Cubs Out-Slug Nationals, Hoerner’s Surge Fueling Team’s Hot Streak, Revisiting ’94 Work Stoppage

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterAugust 12, 2026

“I’ve got a feeling, a feeling deep inside, oh yeah.” – I’ve Got a Feeling by The Beatles

There is just no stopping Pete Crow-Armstrong, who entered last night’s game against the Nationals sporting a jaw-dropping 8.0 fWAR. His current pace would set a team record for position players, held by Rogers Hornsby (11.0) in 1929. Crow-Armstrong hit another home run in yesterday’s 8-6 win over the Nationals, his team-high 27th of the year. Seiya Suzuki and Alex Bregman also hit big flies in the slugfest. The Cubs are tough to beat when those three are producing.

There is another player who is just as hot as PCA, but he might be beneath your radar: Nico Hoerner is hitting .379 with 12 multi-hit games and three home runs since the All-Star break. He was 2-for-3 yesterday, but more importantly, Hoerner stole a base for the second consecutive game. The Gold Glove second baseman was Chicago’s best hitter through most of April, but struggled after he was beaned by Matt Waldron of the Giants on April 29. I don’t doubt that bad luck was also a big factor, but Hoerner is running a lot more lately, a good sign that any lingering effects of being beaned are completely behind him. He’s absolutely shredding with 36 hits in 24 games, the most in baseball.

Chicago’s hitters need to keep putting Washington’s pitchers on their heels because the Nationals have one of the most productive offenses in the league. Powered by young stars James Wood and CJ Abrams, the Nats sit near the top of the league in runs scored, slugging, and OPS. Shōta Imanaga can certainly attest. Wood hasn’t played since August 3, but Abrams, Jacob Young, and Dylan Crews all homered off of the lefty. Chicago is simply going to have to out-hit Washington to win this series.

Sweeping the series would be even better. The Cubs narrowed their gap in the NL Central to four games thanks to another loss by the Brewers. Milwaukee is on the West Coast, and they’ll visit the Dodgers once they’ve finished their series with the Padres. This is Chicago’s best chance to make a run at the division champions before the two teams meet in Chicago for four games beginning August 31. The season’s stretch run sneaks up on all of us pretty quickly.

In the meantime, the Cubs have a comfortable 6.5-game lead over the Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Padres for the top Wild Card spot, which comes with home-field advantage for all three games in the first round. It’s still a little too early to throw magic numbers around, but the Cubs are playing very good baseball right now. Chicago will finish the season with 91 wins by merely splitting the final 42 games. The teams chasing the Cubs would basically have to win two of every three games for the remainder of the season to catch them.

One more thing, if I may. The Cubs trail the Dodgers and Braves by two games, and they own the tiebreaker over Los Angeles with three games left with Atlanta. This is no time to coast with overall seeds 1-4 still in play.

Cubs News & Notes

Ball Four

David Bote, G.O.A.T. for one night.

Central Intelligence

  • Milwaukee (74-46): Brice Turang, who was playing shortstop for the injured Cooper Pratt, sprained his thumb in Tuesday night’s game.
  • Chicago (70-50): Suzuki and Shohei Ohtani share a tight bond both on and off the field. Perhaps Suzuki will replace Kyle Tucker in right field for the Dodgers next season.
  • St. Louis (60-60): The Cardinals will wear their navy caps on the road for the remainder of the season.
  • Cincinnati (57-61): The Reds beat the White Sox 5-4 despite an inconceivable papal presence at Guaranteed Rate Field. I’m not sure if it constitutes a miracle, but I believe the Reds are going to finish above .500 and challenge for a Wild Card spot.
  • Pittsburgh (58-63): Paul Skenes continues to struggle with decreased velocity. The Pirates ace fell to 3-4 with a 5.79 ERA in his last nine starts.

How About That!

Today is the anniversary of the 1994 labor strike, which interrupted a potentially historic season. Matt Williams was on a pace to hit 61 home runs when the season ended prematurely. Tony Gwynn was chasing .400 at the time, while the Expos, managed by Felipe Alou, were on pace to win 105 games. Greg Maddux lost 11 potential wins, which would have bumped him up from No 8. all-time to No. 5, trailing only Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Grover Alexander, and Christy Mathewson.

August 12 is a day which will live in infamy for all Expos fans.

Some MLB owners expect a work stoppage to wipe out the entire 2027 season.

The looming lockout raises a host of legal issues that may require outside mediation.

Tarik Skubal will be at the top of this winter’s free agent list. He, Freddy Peralta, Kevin Gausman, and Clay Holmes might be more inclined to sign new contracts before the next work stoppage. Free agency starts five days after the World Series ends, then there is a five-day window to negotiate exclusively with their current teams. That leaves about three weeks before the expected lockout.

Kyle Schwarber, who bats leadoff for the Phillies, might end up with more homers this season than Luis Arráez (41) has in his career. Arráez is Philadelphia’s cleanup hitter. My, how the times have changed.

Cal Raleigh is suffering from one of the worst turnarounds in the history of the game. He has a slash line of .159/.264/.299 with 12 home runs and 43 RBI. He had 60 bombs and 125 RBI in 2025. Still, Raleigh challenged his teammates to be better hitters.

Three from the Bill Chuck Files

  1. The White Sox have had 825 chances to ground into a double play this season; they’ve only grounded into 52. That 6.3% rate is the lowest in baseball.
  2. Both the Dodgers and the Royals are 13-17 over their last 30 games.
  3. The Angels are the only current MLB franchise to never have lost 100 games in a season. Their worst full-season mark is 67–95, occurring in 1980 and again in 2024

Apropos of Nothing

The Cubs are hitting .272 in the second half of this season, so far. That’s third-best in baseball behind the Padres (.283) and Tigers (.276).

Son of Apropos

Chicago’s high-water mark at the 50-loss point during Jed Hoyer’s tenure.

Extra Innings

G.O.A.T.

They Said It

  • “I’m happy to have Tyrone Taylor here. He’s a great player who’s been around a long time and does a lot of things well. So for me, this year I haven’t been great against lefties. I’ll get some opportunities and get it right. Obviously, as a competitor, you want to be in there as much as you possibly can. But for us and this group, it’s about winning as many ballgames as we can and however the coaching staff feels we can do that best.” – Happ

Wednesday Walk-Up Song

I don’t think I’ve ever posted a song by The Police in this section. That’s unacceptable.

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterAugust 12, 2026
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