With the loss to the Diamondbacks on Sunday, the Phillies fell to a game under .500. They’ll now welcome another would-be contender who is off to an uneven start to the season that has left them a game under .500.
Chicago Cubs
Record: 7-8, Fifth place in National League Central (Two games back)
The last time they met
The Phillies hosted the Cubs in early June 2025 and won the first game on an eleventh inning RBI by Brandon Marsh. Poor pitching doomed them in the middle game, but a strong start by Jesus Luzardo carried them to victory
in the finale.
What’s the deal with the Cubs?
The Cubs made the playoffs as a Wild Card in 2025, and after winning their first-round playoff series, fell to the Brewers in the NLDS. The Cubs tried to build on that in the offseason by signing Alex Bregman and Edward Cabrera, though they did lose Kyle Tucker to the Dodgers. They also remade their bullpen by bringing in Phil Maton and Hunter Harvey.
The new additions have been a mixed bag. Cabrera has been excellent in the early going, but Bregman has disappointed (more on him next). And both Harvey and Maton are on the IL.
The Cubs’ offense hasn’t been where they expected it to be. In addition to Bregman, both Dansby “thoroughly stupid name” Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong are off to slow starts at the plate. Both are excellent fielders, but in the past, they’ve been much better hitters than they’ve shown so far this season.
Featured Cub: Alex Bregman
There’s no denying that Alec Bohm is playing poorly this season, and vindicating those who thought the team needed to move on from him. However, the two big names that most people wanted to replace him with are also playing poorly on their new teams. Bo Bichette has the Mets experiencing buyer’s remorse, and Alex Bregman hasn’t been much better.
It was unlikely that Bregman would ever regain the highs he hit in Houston where he was the MVP runner-up in 2019. But after he had an OPS of .821 and made the All-Star team for the Red Sox in 2025, the Cubs surely expected more than they’ve seen from him early on. He’s batting .213 with two home runs, and perhaps most surprisingly, his defense has not graded out well either.
As I’ve mentioned when talking about the slumping Phillies players, it is still very early in the season. Given Bregman’s track record, there’s a good chance that the next time we see him, his numbers will be around where we expect. Let’s just hope that his early season struggles can continue for at least three more games.
What about the Phillies?
Is it more frustrating when your team loses because they’re getting beat by a superior team, or because they’re just playing poorly? Looking at the rosters, it’s difficult to say that the Arizona Diamondbacks have a superior roster than the Phillies. but the Phillies lost the series because they made a lot of mistakes.
And no, I don’t think Rob Thomson needs to bench Bryce Harper for his poor decision to try to stretch a single into a double. Harper was clearly trying too hard in that situation, and he needs to be smarter. On the other hand, I’d rather see mistakes like that rather than a team that looks moribund. Mistakes of aggression are usually better than mistakes of passivity.
Pennant year song battle
Everybody Wants You by Billy Squier defeated Take the Long Way Home to hold on to the title for another series.
The next contender comes from 1983. In honor of the Phillies’ many mistakes on Sunday, we have It’s a Mistake by Men at Work:
Vote now:
Closing thought
Neither of these teams are playing great baseball at the moment. The series might come down to which team plays the less not great.
