The Cubs split six games over the last week, losing two of three at home to the Tigers, then winning two of three on the road at Pittsburgh. Even this treading-water week kept them in good postseason position, and there were some good performances to celebrate.
Here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over the past week.
Three up
Pete Crow-Armstrong just keeps on going, at the plate and in the field
PCA had himself yet another great week. Over the six games he batted .391/.517/.956 (9-for-23) with three doubles, two triples, two home runs, seven RBI, five runs scored, five walks
and a stolen base.
Numbers like that would often be enough for Player of the Week, except that CJ Abrams of the Nationals batted .577/.593/1.346 with six home runs this past week, so PCA will have to get mentioned in “other good performances.”
However, PCA could be on target to be Player of the Month for the second straight month. So far in July: .319/.465/.681 (22-for-69) with six doubles, two triples, five home runs, 15 RBI, 16 runs scored, 14 walks and six stolen bases. Abrams is probably his toughest competition there, too.
It’s just a remarkable run. Here’s his triple on Sunday and he was really flying [VIDEO].
And, of course, PCA continued to play elite defense. Here’s his catch of a sinking liner off the bat of Zach McKinstry of the Tigers last Monday [VIDEO].
Pedro Ramirez is quietly putting together a series of good games
Ramirez played in five of the six games this past week and had hits in all of them, extending his hitting streak to seven games.
Over the five games he batted .368/.400/.500 (9-for-19) with two doubles. On the year he’s now batting .305/.344/.451 (25-for-83) with seven doubles, a triple, a home run, 12 runs scored and 12 RBI in 32 games. He almost always puts together good at-bats and he’s solid defensively at second base or third base, maybe not Gold Glove quality, but certainly very good.
And remember, he just turned 22 in April. He’s a keeper.
Here’s his RBI single Sunday, a real nice piece of hitting on an 0-2 count [VIDEO].
Shōta Imanaga and Matthew Boyd have solidified the rotation
I’m giving the third “up” spot to both these starters. In their starts this week, the first two games of the Pirates series, they threw a combined 13 innings, allowed 11 hits, four walks and one run and struck out eight. Both have been lights-out since the All-Star break (and a bit before, too).
Add one quality starter to these two and the Cubs just might have a very good postseason rotation.
Three down
Jameson Taillon might have reached the end of the line
I’ve said all I can say about Jamo in the recap to Sunday’s game.
He’s been a solid MLB starter most of his career, but the home runs are just too much. The team has to get him out of the rotation, and honestly I don’t think he’d be real useful out of the bullpen. Maybe the hamstring isn’t 100 percent, maybe there’s some other nagging little thing; get him on the injured list.
Something is likely to happen, reading between the lines of this comment from Craig Counsell (Bluesky link).
I don’t think we’ll see Taillon make another start for the Cubs.
Alex Bregman is still not finding his way
After going 2-for-5 against the Tigers last Monday, Bregman went just 1-for-16 the rest of the week, with two walks. Overall he batted .143/.250/.143 (3-for-21) in the five games he played with six strikeouts, before Craig Counsell gave him the day off Sunday.
There had been some signs of Bregman beginning to hit before the All-Star break, but since: .156/.270/.250 (5-for-32) with 10 strikeouts.
Hopefully, he’ll start hitting soon — time’s running short.
Seiya Suzuki redeemed his slow week with three home runs
Suzuki batted just .160 (4-for-25) and struck out 12 times on the week… but three of those four hits were home runs for a SLG of .560 over the six games.
His homer on Sunday gave brief hope that the Cubs could come back [VIDEO].
Seiya winds up in “three down” because honestly I couldn’t really find anyone else having a “down” enough week to go here. That’s a good sign, I think.
