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The Rundown: Streaky Cubs Running Into Milwaukee Gauntlet, Hoyer Searching High & Low for Pitching, Mets Fire Mendoza

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterJune 26, 2026

“Lived nine lives, gunned down ten.” – Ride Like the Wind by Christopher Cross

The Cubs have won four in a row and six of seven after last night’s 4-3 win over the Mets. They’ve had two 10-game winning streaks this season and they’ve also lost 10 in a row. The local nine scored 16 runs in a game a week ago and gave up 18 to the Giants on June 5. They’ve scored 10 or more runs in nine games this season, but they’ve scored one or fewer 15 times. Until yesterday, 80% of Chicago’s starting rotation was on the IL, yet here they are, sitting in second place at the halfway point of the season. They’re 6.5 games behind the Brewers in the NL Central, and a buck-and-a-half behind the Phillies for the top Wild Card spot.

Did Joe Maddon have anything about living nine lives in his book of idioms? “Never let the pressure exceed the pleasure” is probably pretty close. “You have to have a little crazy to be successful” also works.

The All-Star break is three weeks away, and how the Cubs play against the Brewers, Padres, Cardinals, Orioles, and Reds will determine if Jed Hoyer is a buyer, a seller, both, or neither. The Baltimore series scares me the most because the Cubs are unabashedly slipshod with a 9-14 record in interleague play. Sure, there’s no taller task than trying to gun down Milwaukee’s triumvirate of aces, but you have to go through the Brewers to earn that flag. That means you either beat Jacob Misiorowski, Kyle Harrison, and Brandon Woodruff or you’ve failed your mission.

Can the Cubs do it? Their offense is clicking on nearly all cylinders right now, but it needs a breakout from the middle of the order. That’s why Michael Busch, Alex Bregman, and Ian Happ are the keys to the series. Busch and Happ can lead the Cubs to wins against Misiorowski and Woodruff. I lack confidence in Bregman against any of those three, but if Dansby Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong stay hot, the Cubs can win the series.

Sweeping Milwaukee would elevate Chicago to solid buy mode, and pitchers like Joe Ryan and Reid Detmers are intriguing options. Freddy Peralta, who would also look good in blue pinstripes, had a fine audition in last night’s game. Chicago needs starters, especially if Ben Brown misses more than a month with his neck injury, but some bullpen reinforcements would be nice, too. None of that happens if the Brewers spank the Cubs however. Getting swept would put the North Siders 9.5 games behind their Cream City peers. That makes this a really big series no matter how much Craig Counsell downplays it.

The Brewers swept the Cubs at Wrigley Field a month ago, knocking Chicago’s North Side Baseballers out of first place. It’s time for some payback.

Cubs News & Notes

Ball Four

Eight errors in two games plus a plethora of mental miscues and half-assed play cost manager Carlos Mendoza his job.

Central Intelligence

  • Milwaukee (49-29): The Brewers need one more good starting pitcher to be considered among the favorites to win the World Series.
  • Chicago (44-37): Swanson said the Cubs-Brewers rivalry is the best in baseball. It should be, but beating Milwaukee a few times this weekend might convince me.
  • St. Louis (42-36): The Cardinals postponed their game against the Diamondbacks on Thursday, dropping to third place in the NL Central. The also drew the ire of Arizona pitcher Paul Sewald, who felt the game could have been played.
  • Pittsburgh (41-40): The Pirates are positioned well to make the playoffs despite an up-and-down first half.
  • Cincinnati (37-42): The Reds are in sell mode thanks to a 17-31 record since the Cubs dropped the from first to last place in May. Nathaniel Lowe, Brady Singer, and Tyler Stephenson should have decent markets at the deadline.

How About That!

The Mets hired Andy Green as interim manager, replacing Mendoza. Green served as bench coach to David Ross during his tenure as the Cubs manager (2020-23).

Mendoza is the third manager to be fired this season, joining Alex Cora (Red Sox) and Rob Thomson (Phillies) in the unemployment line.

An entire country (Canada) could put several Blue Jays into the All-Star Game. Ernie Clement will join Shohei Ohtani as automatic starters for receiving the most overall votes. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (first base) and Kazuma Okamoto (third base) received the most votes at their positions. George Springer, Andrés Giménez, Alejandro Kirk (51 ABs this season), Daulton Varsho, and Jesús Sánchez (-0.4 WAR) are all finalists for starting positions.

Retired ChiSox manager Tony La Russa sees parallels between the 1983 White Sox and the current team.

The MLBPA proposed a ban on prop bets on individual players.

The league proposed to eliminate qualifying offers and deferred compensation. That comes with additional changes that are non-starters for the players’ union.

Three from the Bill Chuck Files

  1. The Mets infield erred for the cycle in Game 2 of Wednesday’s doubleheader. First baseman Mark Vientos made two errors, second baseman Marcus Semien made two errors, third baseman Bo Bichette made one error, and shortstop Francisco Lindor came off the IL to make one error. On top of that, catcher Francisco Álvarez had a passed ball.
  2. The Metropolitans are now 0-11 as a franchise when they’ve made six errors or more in one ballgame.
  3. It was 64 years ago that Cubs centerfielder Lou Brock hit a 460-foot home run against the Mets into the right-center bleachers at the Polo Grounds. Over the years, only four players cleared that wall: Luke Easter (Negro Leagues), Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock, and Lou. Mr. Brock told a funny story about that tater years later.

Standing O

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Apropos of Nothing

In case you’re wondering, I believe Peterson will be much more successful with the Cubs than Cole Mathis will be with the Mets. I also believe Hoyer will keep Peterson beyond this year because he’ll be cheap and should remain injury-free. One reason Chicago has always avoided hard throwers is because they tend to get injured more often. This season may eventually soften some of Hoyer’s subjectiveness.

Son of Apropos

Imagine a world where Michael McDonald performs as a lead singer, backup, writer, or producer of every streaming song you hear. That my friends, is the Yacht Rock channel on Sirius/XM. Talk about ear porn. Me like.

Extra Innings

Matthew Boyd needs to stay injury-free for the remainder of the season if the Cubs hope to make the playoffs.

They Said It

  • “We’re facing real challenges pitching-wise right now, and so in some ways that’s sort of crystallizing or clarifying what we are.” – Hoyer
  • “Realistically, are there gonna be trades in July? Of course there will be, but I think we have to assume that we’re going to be mostly focused internally. We’ll talk to every team, we’ll explore things, but, I would imagine, given how teams are clumped together, it’s going to be pretty late toward August 3.” – Hoyer

Friday Walk Up Song

Fun stuff from the mid-80s…

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterJune 26, 2026
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