Cubs Lose 8th Straight Game In Unexplainable Slump

The Milwaukee Brewers returned to Wrigley Field for the first time since their NLDS triumph last season and kept their crown as the NL Central big brother. They’re the gauge for the Cubs’ true success, and they obliterated the Cubs in an uncompetitive sweep. In the series, Cubs’ hitters struck out 36 times, went 2-for-18 with RISP, and scored 5 runs. Their elite fielders also got the yips as PCA dropped a fly ball, let a ball roll under his glove, and Seiya Suzuki took a line drive off the chest. After that rivalry letdown, the 20-31 Astros showed up with no firepower and also swept a series. The status quo approach changed throughout the week as Kevin Alcantara and Pedro Ramirez were called up from AAA, Ian Happ was given 2 days off for a mental reset, and the pitching carousel continued spinning.

An 8-0 start to May has quickly become a 10-12 month with 7 games remaining. When they started to spiral, I wasn’t concerned unless it became a month-long issue similar to previous years. This definitely qualifies now. This is their OPS during the worst month of the season:

2023 Cubs: .696 (May)
2024 Cubs: .647 (May)
2025 Cubs: .668 (August)
2026 Cubs: .638 (May - so far)

It was only 2 weeks ago when I wrote about their potent offense not needing a superstar to replace Kyle Tucker. Now nobody can hit, and their streakiness continues to be a trend in this era of the Jed Hoyer rebuild. It seems like the organization has no answers as to why this happens, and they’re grasping at straws again. This team isn’t a 20-3 or 0-8 team, but where in the middle will they level out? As long as this May doesn’t lose them the division to the Brewers in the last week of the season, it should only be uphill from here.

OTAs begin on Wednesday to start the full-team offseason program. They signed RB Salvon Ahmed and DB Anthony Johnson Jr. to the 90-man roster.

Ilya Mikheyev’s rights are available in a trade before he becomes a free agent, even though the Hawks still want to re-sign him. They haven’t found middle ground on a contract. His two-way play and penalty killing mastery make him the perfect candidate to stick around and play with the young guys.

The head coaching hire is next on the agenda, and Bryson Graham is compiling his interview list. Candidates include Sean Sweeney (San Antonio), Micah Nori (Minnesota), Dave Bliss (Oklahoma City), Lamar Skeeter (Charlotte), Ryan Schmidt (Atlanta), Chris Quinn (Miami), Jerry Stackhouse, and current Bulls’ assistant Wes Unseld Jr.

The Blackhawks need to draft a forward at #4 overall in the NHL Draft.

Most mock drafts have Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg joining fellow Swede Anton Frondell on the Blackhawks at #4 overall. Gavin McKenna is the consensus #1 pick, but the Sharks’ pick at #2 is where the questions begin.

Other mocks are sending the Blackhawks either Carson Carels or Chase Reid who are the top 2 defensemen in the draft. Their reasoning usually centers on the Hawks’ young defensemen having lower ceilings than anticipated.

After all of the top picks and development invested into a blue line core, I still want to give the Hawks’ group more time. Defensemen take years to figure out the NHL game, and they are still stocked with talent. Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel can still end up as a 1D, Louis Crevier burst onto the scene as their most effective defenseman last season, Wyatt Kaiser and Alex Vlasic should be solid pros for over a decade, and Kevin Korchinski has a lot of upside.

They don’t need to add to the blue line. They built that area first, and they’re now in the development process. Add another Top 6 forward to Connor Bedard, Anton Frondell, Roman Kantserov, and Frank Nazar to balance out the squad.