Game Scores: Cubs' Progress Report

It's September, which means teams across the MLB are expanding their rosters and configuring their strongest team for the playoffs. While some divisions are all but wrapped up by now, the Cubs aren't so lucky. The NL Central is one of the most competitive divisions in the league this season and figures to put two—if not three—teams in the playoffs when it's all said and done. So what's going on with the Cubs? What are their chances for the rest of 2018, and what's the outlook going forward?

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The 2018 Season So Far

As of this post, the Cubs have a record of 82 wins and 57 losses, good for first in the NL Central. That's 4.0 games above of the Brewers and 4.5 games ahead of the Cardinals, the two teams that sit in the first two spots in the Wild Card race.

With only a month left to play, the Cubs are in a great spot to win the division, and if not, the odds that they capture one of those Wild Card spots are good. So, playoff baseball in 2018 seems likely, even if the Cubs have to play a one-game series to get into the NLDS.

Propelling the team to this impressive record are some of the same names that seem to produce every year: Javy Baez is putting an MVP effort on the books, batting .297 with 30 HRs and 21 stolen bases so far. Anthony Rizzo is heating up after starting slow, with 24 HRs and 90 RBIs to go along with a respectable .285 batting average. Kris Bryant, while not having a typical season by his standards, has hit .276 while adding 11 HRs and 44 RBIs of his own.

On the pitching side, trade deadline acquisition Cole Hamels has lit up the stat sheet since he became a Cub, which is good given top offseason signing Yu Darvish's disappointing run on the disabled list. Hamels leads a very stout Cubs staff with 4 wins and a jaw-droppingly low ERA of just 1.00 in his first month with the team. Even with Darvish on the DL, the staff is completed by two 2016 World Series contributors in Kyle Hendricks and Jon Lester, as well as newcomers Tyler Chatwood and Jose Quintana.

Is the Future Still Bright?

In baseball, we talk about teams based on their "window", meaning that we ask the question: how many years of contention does this team likely have left? The good news is this: the Cubs' young roster means that they're looking at a bright future, even after hitting their long-awaited championship peak in 2016.

The team has no key contributors as free agents after this season beyond the two-month rental Hamels, which means that they can focus on strengthening the team with free agent acquisitions: the dream would be Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, but more realistically, the team could hope to strengthen outfield spots with a utility man like Marwin Gonzalez of the Astros or a solid contributor like the Diamondbacks' AJ Pollock.

This, plus another starting arm should Darvish not return to form, gives the Cubs the opportunity to challenge at least next year, and potentially in 2020 and beyond.

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