The Cubs had an exceptional week, ending a 17-game stretch without an off day with a 12-5 mark. That included six wins in the seven games since last Monday against the Dodgers, Blue Jays and Royals. They came from behind in five of the six wins and performed well offensively, defensively and on the mound.
Here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over the past week.
Three up
Pete Crow-Armstrong solidified his MVP argument
Over the seven games, PCA batted .345/.457/.621 (10-for-29) with two doubles, two home runs, seven RBI, 11 runs scored, six walks and four
stolen bases.
I mean, that’s a month for some guys. He continues to lead all MLB players in fWAR at 8.0 — that gives him a chance to have a 10 WAR season which is extremely rare for any player, much less a member of the Chicago Cubs. (His bWAR number is currently 7.4.)
We are seeing a special season from PCA and he’s only 24 years old.
We all know how he can create chaos on the basepaths, and when he did that in the 11th inning Thursday, he wound up scoring the winning run [VIDEO].
Michael Busch’s bat is heating up
Busch has had a slow year, at least compared to his 2025 season when he hit 34 home runs.
This week, though, Busch batted .345/.387/.517 (10-for-29) with two doubles and a home run.
There was one report last month that said Busch had changed his approach this year and is walking more (68 walks already compared to 56 all of last year), but it might have come at the expense of some power:
“I don’t think there’s one reason. I’m not going into the box necessarily trying to walk, just trying to get a good pitch to hit,” Busch said before Saturday’s win in Pittsburgh. “That’s basically my approach. I’m always happy with a walk, but there are some things that go into it, except just trying to walk. A lot of it is just having some experience now. I’ve been in the league a few years and I think I have a better idea of what pitchers are trying to do with me.”
He’s still a productive hitter and continues to play strong defense at first base. Hopefully, some of the power will return over the season’s last few weeks.
Jacob Webb has become a lockdown closer
You don’t necessarily have to throw 100 miles per hour to be an effective closer in 2026 MLB. What you need is to throw strikes and have the right mindset, and Webb seems to have that.
Over the week he posted two saves — one after the Dodgers got to within a run Wednesday in what originally seemed a blowout — and retired all nine batters he faced, two by strikeout.
Webb has now had 19 straight scoreless appearances in which he’s thrown 19.1 innings and struck out 19, with a WHIP of 0.879. In those games he’s posted five saves (no blown saves) and three holds.
Here’s his strikeout of Kyle Isbel on a nasty changeup to nail down Friday’s win [VIDEO].
There are a bunch of honorable mentions this week, including Shōta Imanaga again putting up an outstanding start, ditto for Kevin Gausman, and Ian Happ finally coming out of his slump with two big games Saturday and Sunday.
Three down
Caleb Thielbar, yikes
Thielbar had a rough game against the Dodgers, allowing four runs and recording only one out, requiring Webb to come in and get the aforementioned save.
Then he allowed a pair of runs to the Royals Friday that ultimately turned out to be the difference in the game.
In between, though, he threw a scoreless 10th inning against the Blue Jays Friday, retiring all three batters he faced on only 12 pitches, helping set up PCA’s heroics in the 11th.
Clay Holmes had a rough first Cubs start
Holmes is likely still shaking off some rust from being on the shelf with a broken leg for three months, so I’m not going to criticize his outing that much.
One thing that was good: Of the 12 outs he recorded, 11 were on the ground balls that are his signature (the other was a strikeout). Keep doing that and good things should follow.
This space intentionally left blank
You know what, the Cubs had a really good week and so did almost everyone on the active roster. I looked up and down the list to find a third “down” entry and, well, no one really qualified. This is the first time I’ve done that in all the years I’ve been doing this feature.
We are watching what could be a special season for the Chicago Cubs.
I did want to make one small note about this Cubs season. As you know, the team has used a lot of pitchers this year, 38 of them (excluding Carson Kelly, who threw one inning in a blowout). That leads the major leagues this year.
Of those 38, there are six who made a single appearance for the team and at least three of them — Charlie Barnes, Yacksel Rios and Luke Little — will not return, as they are now with other teams. Three others — Ty Blach, Andrew Wantz and Antoine Kelly — are still in the Cubs organization and could theoretically pitch for the team again this year.
Just an interesting footnote to this potentially special season.
