Riding an eight-game winning streak and three consecutive walk-off victories, the North Siders have surged atop the NL Central as insiders hail their elite defense and depth.
The Chicago Cubs can’t be stopped right now.
They are playing better baseball than every team and are the hottest team in the Majors. The North Siders have won eight straight games and have won 18 of their last 21 contests. That has jolted them to the No. 1 spot in the National League Central.
This has been an unreal 21-game stretch for the Cubs, which has included three straight walk-off wins against the Cincinnati Reds.
Michael Conforto was the hero in Monday’s 5-4 win with a walk-off home run. Michael Busch came through in the bottom of the 10th inning of Tuesday’s 3-2 win with a walk-off RBI single, and Busch brought in the game-winning run on a walk in Wednesday’s 7-6 extra-innings win.
In all three of these games, the Cubs came from behind to win. They scored two runs in the ninth inning to win on Monday, trailed 2-0 after six innings on Tuesday, and scored two runs in the ninth inning again on Wednesday to force extra innings.
Simply put, this Cubs team is electric. They are emerging as serious World Series contenders and have the talent to make a deep postseason run in October.
Their recent winning streak is also drawing more attention from the national media. Pete Crow-Armstrong recently went on the Pat McAfee Show, and ESPN insider Jeff Passan went on that same show on Thursday to rave about this Cubs team.
Here’s what Passan had to say about the Cubs:
“What I love about the Cubs is that they are so good at everything,” he said. “They’re the best defensive team in baseball. Pete Crow-Armstrong in center field, Nico Hoerner, maybe the best defensive second baseman in baseball, [and] Dansby Swanson has been incredible at shortstop. You go out to the corners, they’re fantastic there too.
“They put the ball in play. They hit for power. Their lineup is good one through nine, and whether it’s Nico Hoerner up at the top or a guy like Moises Ballesteros, who has come up and really been huge at DH for them this year. The Cubs have the potential to be great.”
That is some high praise for Passan, who watches as much baseball as anyone in the world. The Cubs are currently tied with the New York Yankees for the second-best record in baseball (25-12). Only the Atlanta Braves (26-12) have a better record to start the season.
While Passan wasn’t ready to call the Cubs a “great team” yet, he acknowledged that this Cubs team could be really special in 2026.
“If they can at the trade deadline, go out and get an arm, or get some of their guys healthy, they have a chance to be a real problem in October and a real thorn in the Dodgers' side,” Passan said on the Pat McAfee Show.