PITTSBURGH — For as bleak as the Chicago Cubs’ season is trending, in a dramatic shift over the last two weeks, those within the clubhouse are trying to maintain perspective.
At some point, things will turn the Cubs’ way. It’s a mantra the Cubs continue to believe in and their confidence in what they are capable of.
As poorly as they have played since their second 10-game winning streak ended May 9, the veteran-laden group has echoed a resolute faith that their recent struggles will not become a defining moment of the season. They’re saying all the right things, focused on the process and trying not to get caught up in the results, particularly when flukiness comes into play.
But that winning streak feels like a lifetime ago, not earlier this month. They’re in free fall.
The Cubs’ offense yet again came up short in Monday’s 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, extending their skid to nine consecutive games while dropping 13 of their last 15 games. The Cubs (29-25) wasted another stellar start by right-hander Ben Brown, who held the Pirates to one run and four hits in six innings.
Manager Craig Counsell has searched for ways to jolt the offense by shuffling the lineup over the last few days. Pete Crow-Armstrong collected a hit and three walks batting in the leadoff spot three straight days. He scorched three balls with exit velocities over 100 mph in Monday’s loss that all went for outs despite expected batting averages of .610, .660 and .870.
Counsell gave Ian Happ a mental reset by sitting the left fielder for the last two games in the series against Houston. Shortstop Dansby Swanson had an off day Sunday, while Nico Hoerner and Seiya Suzuki were out of the lineup for Monday’s series opener in Pittsburgh. Hoerner and Suzuki entered as pinch hitters in the ninth inning against Pirates lefty closer Gregory Soto but grounded out and struck out looking. Rookie infielder Pedro Ramírez has started their last two games and Michael Conforto continues to get more regular at-bats.
The various combinations, although a small sample size, haven’t paid off. The Cubs’ .178 average during this 15-game stretch is the worst in the majors behind the Astros (.197), who swept them over the weekend.
Counsell offered a blunt assessment after Monday’s underwhelming performance.
“We’ve got to play better,” Counsell said. “We’ve got to swing the bats better, we’ve got to pitch better, we need more guys contributing to good stuff, and as a coaching staff, we’ve got to figure out a way to get the players there. Offensively we are equipped to be way more consistent than this and way better than this, and we need to show it.”
Their best opportunity to break Monday’s game open came in the second inning against Pirates starter Carmen Mlodzinski. Three consecutive hitters reached with two outs — Ramírez and Moisés Ballesteros singled and Miguel Amaya walked — to load the bases for Swanson. Mlodzinski needed only four pitches to put away Swanson by getting him to chase a sweeper down and away, nearly into the left-handed batter’s box, for the inning-ending strikeout.
“I think at moments when things seem to be never going really your way as a group or individually or whatever, obviously you want to do really well, and I think it can at times create a little bit more pressure as a group to just try and perform,” Swanson said. “Everyone wants to do good so bad and wants to win so bad that sometimes it can almost work in the reverse, especially in baseball. So, really and truly, it’s about trying to take a step back, gain some perspective, and lace them up again tomorrow.”
Michael Busch has been among the few Cubs locked in amid the team-wide slump. He entered Monday with a 138 wRC+ in the last 15 games and provided the Cubs’ lone run on his game-tying home run to dead center field in the fifth.
“Just simplify things in a sense, I think, simplify it for us as individuals in a group, just passing it along, having a good at-bat,” Busch said. “I thought (Crow-Armstrong) today, he had some great at-bats all day, had nothing to show for it, but get the at-bat quality, continue to do that over and over. This game doesn’t reward you in that, so I think just the mindset of staying within ourselves, and simplifying things, passing it along and moving it to the next guy.”
The Cubs are searching for bright spots within this bleak stretch.
Brown again delivered when the Cubs needed him. In his four starts since joining the rotation following Matthew Boyd’s meniscus surgery, Brown owns a 1.89 ERA with six walks and 23 strikeouts in 19 innings. A one-out walk in the third came back to hurt Brown when Brandon Lowe drove in the run on a double two pitches later. Brown recovered to retire 11 of the next 13 batters faced, with the lone baserunners reaching on a single and a Ramírez fielding error.
Pirates catcher Henry Davis took reliever Trent Thornton deep in the seventh for a solo home run that held as the difference in the Cubs’ loss. Brown kept the Pirates guessing with the incorporation of his sinker and changeup that resulted in 31 total called strikes and whiffs with his four-pitch mix.
The Cubs turn to left-hander Jordan Wicks to start Tuesday in his first big-league outing of the season as they look to avoid their first 10-game losing streak since 2022.
“The guys are working really hard, we’re just not winning baseball games,” Brown said. “And that doesn’t take away from how talented this group is, and the characters in this room that are just pushing each other. We all love each other, and just the reality of baseball is it can really be tough.
“We’ve got to play with freedom. We can’t play locked up both sides of the ball. I mean, there’s tons of games where hitters are picking us up and then vice versa, and just the reality of baseball, like I said, you can’t go out there and put that kind of pressure on yourself. It’s not realistic, and I know we’re all just trying to do better.”
