This edition of “Three up, three down” is for the final six games of the road trip in San Francisco and Colorado. It does not include Monday’s game — that’ll be covered in next week’s edition.
Here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over those six games.
Three up
Ian Happ is on one of his traditional late-season hot streaks
Happ does this sort of thing just about every year — gets hot in August and it continues into September. (Let’s hope that’s the case this year, and so far, it has been.)
Happ played in five of the six games noted and batted .400/.455/.900 (8-for-20)
with four doubles, two home runs and seven RBI. There’s a chance those numbers could get him named National League Player of the Week. Stay tuned.
Happ’s three-run homer Sunday at Coors Field tied the game 5-5 [VIDEO].
That ball was demolished! [VIDEO]
Unfortunately, the Cubs lost the game, but Happ’s blast at least put them back in it.
Michael Busch also had a strong week
Busch hit .316/.409/.737 (6-for-19) over the six games with a pair of homers and only two strikeouts.
You’ll note the relatively low number of at-bats for a six-game span. Note that in two of the games, Busch didn’t play the full game, being removed after the seventh in one and going in as a defensive replacement in another. With Carlos Santana now on the team, I would expect more of this to happen going forward.
Brad Keller continues his solid relief
Keller threw in three of the games over the two series and did not allow a baserunner, retiring all eight batters he faced.
In fact, Keller has not allowed a run at all since the All-Star break — 0.00 ERA in 19 appearances covering 19.1 innings, with only nine baserunners allowed (three hits, six walks, 0.466 WHIP) and 23 strikeouts.
Keller is not only one of the best under-the-radar signings by Jed Hoyer for 2025, he’s probably one of the best such signings for any team this year.
Also notable: Dansby Swanson, who hit .318/.348/.818 (7-for-25) with a home run over the six games.
Three down
Pete Crow-Armstrong is in a horrific slump
PCA did have a key bunt single and spectacular catch Monday, though that’s not officially included in the numbers for this article.
Over the six games vs. the Giants and Rockies, PCA batted .174/.231/.217 (4-for-23) with just one extra-base hit (a double). After his outstanding first half, he’s batting just .212/.261/.363 (31-for-146) since the All-Star break with three home runs, and only one of those home runs has come in his last 35 games.
This is almost certainly why the Cubs recalled Kevin Alcántara, who could give PCA a break occasionally vs. left-handed starters. He is batting just .188/.218/.388 (30-for-160) vs. LHP this year.
Oddly enough, PCA continues to lead the National League in bWAR at 6.2. He’s still having a very good season overall, just not the MVP-level play we saw in the first half.
Daniel Palencia might need some breaks
Palencia had two ninth-inning blown games over the six contests here, one in San Francisco and one in Colorado. Palencia’s workload is bigger than it’s been at any point in his career, and Craig Counsell will have to carefully manage his innings the rest of the year. Keller or Andrew Kittredge might get some save opportunities going forward.
Matthew Boyd will need his innings managed
Boyd’s workload is his biggest since 2019 and you are all familiar with his injury history, though he has seemed 100 percent healthy this year.
His two starts over the six games did not go well: nine earned runs in 11.2 innings (7.15 ERA). I could see a pitch limit coming for Boyd, though the Cubs have an off day both this week and next, which should give all the starting pitchers some extra rest.
