August 28, 2026
August 28, 2026
The Chicago Cubs’ 2025 Season: A Return to October
The Chicago Cubs’ 2025 season began with a trade that reshaped the outfield. It ended in a five-game gauntlet against their fiercest rival. In between, Wrigley Field remembered what contention felt like. Craig Counsell’s second year in charge produced a 92-70 record. It also delivered a Wild Card Series victory over the San Diego Padres and the franchise’s first postseason series win since 2017. None of it happened by accident. It started the previous December, when the front office decided a talented young core needed one more difference-maker.
Jed Hoyer seized the winter rather than let it drift. On December 13, 2024, the Cubs sent Isaac Paredes and a package of prospects to Houston. In return came outfielder Kyle Tucker, an All-Star bat entering his walk year with something to prove, acquired in a blockbuster trade. The move instantly elevated Chicago’s lineup. It signaled that ownership intended to compete now, not someday. Weeks later, the front office also added closer Ryan Pressly to the bullpen. Tucker’s arrival did not just add power. It added pressure, forcing every hitter around him to be better.
Change swept through the coaching staff before a single pitch of spring training. Hitting coach Jim Adduci, first base coach Mike Napoli, and bullpen coach Darren Holmes were let go that October. The front office rebuilt around continuity and youth instead. Dustin Kelly was elevated to hitting coach. Jose Javier took over first base duties, and Mark Strittmatter and Quintin Berry joined as bullpen and third base coaches. The reshuffled staff would need to hit the ground running.
Chicago sprinted out of the gate. The club raced to a 37-22 start, its best opening stretch since 2016. The lineup was not just winning; it was overwhelming opponents in ways that felt almost theatrical.
Carson Kelly delivered the signature individual moment of the spring. He hit for the cycle in an 18-3 rout of the Athletics on March 31, the first cycle by a Cub since Mark Grace accomplished it in 1993. The bats stayed hot into April. Chicago blistered the Los Angeles Dodgers 16-0 on April 12. Six days later came one of the most absurd innings in franchise history: 16 runs in a single frame during a 13-11 win over Arizona, the most runs any team had scored in one inning at Wrigley Field.
The Fourth of July brought a fitting explosion. Chicago set a franchise record with eight home runs in a single game against St. Louis. Michael Busch alone accounted for three of them. Two weeks later, on July 19, the Cubs blanked Boston 6-0 behind five more homers. This offense could bury a team quickly, and without mercy.
Losing an ace midseason threatens to unravel even the deepest roster. That is precisely the test Chicago faced. Left-hander Justin Steele, the staff’s most dependable starter, went down with an elbow injury that required season-ending surgery. It stripped the rotation of its steadiest presence just as the schedule thickened. Counsell leaned harder on Shota Imanaga, who had opened the year on the mound, and on Jameson Taillon, whose composure became indispensable.
Rather than play it safe, Hoyer doubled down at the July 31 deadline. He acquired Andrew Kittredge from Baltimore, Michael Soroka from Washington, Willi Castro from Minnesota, and Taylor Rogers from Pittsburgh. Each trade cost prospect capital the organization had stockpiled. Soroka battled injuries, and Castro never found his footing at the plate. Kittredge became the deadline’s clear payoff, logging quality innings down the stretch and pitching in five postseason games. That single move justified the entire gamble.
Pete Crow-Armstrong seized the season and carried it on his back for four months. His first-half surge included 25 home runs and 27 stolen bases in 31 attempts. It earned him an All-Star starting nod before a second-half cooldown. He still finished with 5.4 wins above replacement and defense that redefined center field at Wrigley. Seiya Suzuki set the early pace with 51 RBIs before the break. Dansby Swanson paired steady power with dazzling shortstop range. Busch punctuated his breakout with a first career grand slam on May 2. Ian Happ supplied one late-game swing after another. Tucker, playing out his walk year, opened with four straight games with a home run and earned his own All-Star start despite a quieter summer. Together, that core defined the shape of the Chicago Cubs’ 2025 season.
Craig Counsell did not just manage a roster; he sharpened one. His willingness to mix and match bullpen roles kept a battered rotation afloat. His trust in young hitters through slumps mattered just as much. Two ejections over the year hinted at the intensity he brought to the dugout. That edge filtered down to a clubhouse that refused to fold when September tightened. The steady hand mattered most once October arrived.
A franchise starving for a playoff win finally got one, and it turned the Chicago Cubs’ 2025 season into more than just a good story. Chicago edged the Padres two games to one in the Wild Card Series. The clincher came with a tense 3-1 victory at Wrigley Field that ended San Diego’s season and delivered the franchise’s first series triumph since 2017. Tucker opened the winning rally with a single. Suzuki doubled him into scoring position. Crow-Armstrong, hitless in the series to that point, lined a go-ahead single to left-center that changed the entire complexion of the game. Swanson drew a bases-loaded walk to add breathing room, and Busch tacked on a solo homer in the seventh. Jameson Taillon anchored it all with four scoreless innings, and Kittredge slammed the door.
The Milwaukee Brewers, the top seed in the National League and the Cubs’ oldest rival, stood as the final obstacle. The series carried extra weight as the first postseason meeting between the two clubs.
Milwaukee punched first. The Brewers took both games in their own ballpark, by scores of 9-3 and 7-3, pushing Chicago to the brink. Could a resilient team claw back from an 0-2 hole against the league’s best record? It could. The Cubs answered with a gritty 4-3 win in Game 3. They blew the doors off with a 6-0 shutout in Game 4, dragging the series back to Milwaukee and forcing a winner-take-all finale.
Game 5 belonged to the Brewers. Milwaukee held on for a 3-1 decisive victory that ended Chicago’s season three games to two. Milwaukee moved on to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. It was a bitter way to close a season built on so much promise. It did not erase what had been rebuilt.
Ninety-two wins told only part of the story. Chicago finished second in the NL Central, five games behind Milwaukee. Still, the leap from an 83-79 finish in 2024, and from four straight years outside the playoffs, made clear how far this roster had come. Average home attendance climbed to 37,259, sixth-highest in the majors. Wrigley Field filled its seats for the ballpark’s 110th season and the National League’s 150th year of existence. The final numbers confirmed what the summer had already shown. A blockbuster trade, a breakout center fielder, and a manager who refused to blink had turned the Chicago Cubs’ 2025 season into the moment the rebuild finally paid off. The NLDS defeat stung, but it left behind a foundation, and a fan base, that believed October belonged to them again.
7th February, 2017
17th June, 2026
5th March, 2016
29th March, 2016
17th April, 2016
August 27th, 2026 32
August 27th, 2026 32
August 27th, 2026 32
