November 10, 2026
November 10, 2026
The Cubs’ 2026 season was built to be louder than anything Wrigley Field had heard in years, and for long stretches it was. Chicago scored more runs than any team in baseball, watched Pete Crow-Armstrong join one of the sport’s most exclusive clubs, and won 89 games. Then October arrived, and the bats that carried the summer went quiet in two nights at Petco Park.
Jed Hoyer’s front office faced an identity question after Kyle Tucker departed in free agency. The answer came on January 14, when Alex Bregman signed a five-year, $175 million contract to take over third base. Shota Imanaga returned on a new deal, and the Cubs dealt top prospect Owen Caissie and two others to Miami for right-hander Edward Cabrera.
The bullpen was rebuilt almost entirely through veteran additions. Phil Maton, Hoby Milner, Jacob Webb, and Hunter Harvey all arrived, and Caleb Thielbar re-signed. Craig Counsell, entering his third season as manager, had a deeper lineup and a rotation with more options. Expectations centered on chasing down Milwaukee in the NL Central.
Opening Day offered little hint of what was coming. Washington pounded the Cubs 10-4, and the rotation lost Cade Horton to forearm soreness in his first start. That injury eventually required Tommy John surgery and wiped out his season. Chicago responded by seizing control of April.
From April 14 through April 24, the Cubs won 10 straight games. Within two weeks they rattled off another 10-game run, which ended on May 9. By May 8 they stood at 27-12. Chicago became just the fifth team in MLB history with two winning streaks of 10 or more games in one season. Counsell collected his 900th career managerial win during the surge, and the club also locked up Crow-Armstrong in April with an extension running through 2032.
The momentum vanished almost overnight. From May 16 through May 26, Chicago lost 10 consecutive games. An eight-game home losing streak dragged into June, and the rotation thinned again. Matthew Boyd shuttled on and off the injured list, and Justin Steele’s recovery from elbow surgery stretched into 2027. Ian Happ collected his 1,000th career hit on June 3, a rare bright spot during the skid. By June 10, a team that had looked like a juggernaut sat at 34-34.
The season pivoted in the second half of June. From June 11 through August 12, the Cubs went 35-16 and clawed their way to 70-50. Dansby Swanson supplied the defining afternoon on June 24, driving in 11 runs as Chicago swept a doubleheader from the New York Mets. A week later, the Cubs hammered San Diego 23-3, their highest run total of the year.
Crow-Armstrong caught fire alongside him. After a slow start, the center fielder hit .381 in June, the best month of his young career. That surge turned a promising season into a historic one.
Hoyer pushed his chips forward on August 3. The Cubs acquired Kevin Gausman from Toronto and Clay Holmes and outfielder Tyrone Taylor from the Mets. Braxton Garrett and reliever Ryan Zeferjahn followed. The price included young slugger Moises Ballesteros and shortstop prospect Jefferson Rojas, as outlined in MLB.com’s breakdown of the deadline additions. The message was unmistakable: this roster was built to win immediately.
Bregman’s first months in Chicago tested everyone’s patience. He hit just .241 with a .359 slugging percentage through the All-Star break. Then he rebuilt his swing through video work and constant dialogue with Counsell, and the results were thunderous. On August 12, he launched three homers and drove in seven runs against Washington.
He did it again on August 31 against Milwaukee. His second three-homer game of the month powered a team-record nine-homer night against the division leaders. The Cubs hit a franchise-record 62 home runs in August, and Bregman sat at the center of that barrage.
Crow-Armstrong turned the Cubs’ 2026 season into a personal showcase. On September 16, he hit his 43rd and 44th home runs, setting a franchise record for a left-handed hitter. On September 24, he completed a 40-40 season. He became just the seventh player in MLB history, and the first Cub, to reach that mark.
He finished at .280 with 45 home runs, 41 steals, 107 RBIs, and 119 runs scored. His 9.8 bWAR ranked among the greatest seasons in franchise history, as CBS Sports detailed in its historical comparison. He also anchored a defense that led the majors in runs saved and outs above average.
The rotation never stabilized. Horton was gone, and Ben Brown made no appearances after June 19 because of a neck injury. Cabrera posted a 5.96 ERA between hamstring and adductor strains. Colin Rea and Javier Assad absorbed innings that nobody planned for them to pitch. Daniel Palencia’s injury and struggles forced Webb into the closer role.
Home runs became the staff’s recurring wound. Chicago allowed 231 of them, the most in the National League, and Imanaga alone surrendered 35. The offense kept covering for those mistakes, scoring an MLB-high 850 runs and leading the NL with 220 home runs. Boyd and Imanaga steadied themselves late, and the deadline arms supplied badly needed innings.
The final weeks tested the club’s nerve. Chicago went 19-23 after reaching 70-50, and the division slipped away as Milwaukee surged to 103 wins. The lineup kept slugging, but the pitching could not keep pace. On September 24, the Cubs held on for a 2-1 win over Miami that clinched a postseason berth. Crow-Armstrong’s 40-40 milestone that same night made the evening unforgettable.
Even the finale carried an oddity. A looming nor’easter moved the September 27 game against Boston to Tropicana Field, where the Cubs closed the regular season with a 6-2 win. According to the 2026 Cubs season record, Chicago finished 89-73, second in the NL Central, 14 games behind Milwaukee. That earned the second Wild Card and a trip to San Diego.
The Cubs’ 2026 season reached its moment of truth on September 29. Boyd’s first pitch of the night disappeared over the fence, a leadoff homer by Fernando Tatis Jr. Manny Machado followed with a blast of his own before the first inning ended. Xander Bogaerts added another homer in the fourth.
Michael King, meanwhile, was overwhelming. He carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Nico Hoerner broke it up with a one-out infield single. The Padres rolled to an 8-0 victory in the opener, and the league’s most productive offense had been shut out.
Facing elimination, Counsell handed the ball to Gausman. San Diego scored twice in the second inning, and the Cubs answered in the fourth when Hoerner singled home Seiya Suzuki. Would that spark finally ignite the lineup? Pinch hitter Gavin Sheets answered in the bottom half with a two-run homer that restored the cushion.
The Padres’ bullpen then delivered 5 2/3 scoreless innings. San Diego closed out a 4-1 win and a two-game sweep. Chicago hit .129 in the series and scored once in 18 innings. Bregman and Crow-Armstrong combined to go 0-for-15 with eight strikeouts.
This team rewrote parts of the franchise record book. Crow-Armstrong produced the first 40-40 season in Cubs history and a campaign worthy of MVP discussion. Bregman’s second half justified the winter investment, and Suzuki posted a 132 wRC+ in his walk year. The offense led baseball in runs, slugging, and walks.
The ending still exposed the flaws. A rotation ravaged by injuries and a staff that surrendered home runs at an alarming rate could not hold up against elite October pitching. The Cubs’ 2026 season proved Chicago could slug with anyone. The next challenge is building a pitching staff strong enough to carry that power deep into October.
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