The Chicago Cubs improved to 11-7 following their series win on the road in LA against the Dodgers this past weekend. There were several things to like about the Cubs after they won their fourth straight series, but the most encouraging sign could save their hopes for a big 2025 season.
The team was hit with brutal news on Sunday as left-handed starting pitcher Justin Steele is headed toward season-ending elbow surgery. Still, the Cubs are showing that with a star bat in Kyle Tucker, great defense and a solid pitching staff they can be a threat in the National League. Through 18 games, the Cubs have best run-differential in MLB at +43.
All right, so here are the best signs from this past weekend, including the most important one in my opinion.
Bullpen Turning the Corner
The Cubs bullpen was dreadful to begin the regular season, but it has been turning the corner since the Diamondbacks series. This past weekend Cubs relievers allowed just one earned run in 10.1 innings against the Dodgers.
Sunday might have just been the best collective performance by Chicago's high-leverage relievers as Julian Merryweather, Porter Hodge and Ryan Pressly combined to throw three shutout innings, giving up just one base runner, while striking out five and allowing no hits.
For me, it was Pressly's outing that definitely grabbed my attention the most. Merryweather has returned to form following his injury-riddled 2024 season and Hodge remains absolutely nasty in his set-up role. Yet, it's been rocky for the veteran closer to begin his Cubs career as Pressly has looked underwhelming as the ninth-inning man.
However, Pressly had his best appearance of the season, going 1-2-3 in the ninth to earn his fourth save of the year. Pressly struck out Enrique Hernandez on three pitches before getting two ground outs from Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani.
Lots of good things to like from this past weekend for the Cubs.
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) April 14, 2025
Most encouraging performance for me was by Ryan Pressly. pic.twitter.com/mZSpTrnsIv
The Cubs need Pressly at his top form this year if they want to win big. Now, especially with Steele out for the rest of the season, the bullpen will be relied on even more. I'd say most fans feel comfortable with Merryweather and Hodge, but we needed to see Pressly have a clean outing and he finally did.
Since the debacle in Arizona the Cubs bullpen has the third-best ERA in MLB at 1.88 in 38.1 innings. Brad Keller has four straight scoreless appearances and although Eli Morgan is still fighting his high ERA, he's only had that one bad game against the Diamondbacks while having five other shutout outings.
Pressly's appearance from Sunday and the overall bullpen the past two weeks is certainly an encouraging sign moving forward.
Pete Crow-Armstrong
Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong was in the news off the field this weekend as he reportedly turned down a $75-million contract extension from the Cubs in spring training. That became public on Saturday and then PCA hit two home runs, leading the Cubs to a 4-2 win on Sunday.
another one. pic.twitter.com/XOrLQ7Z1su
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 14, 2025
It's a small sample size, but Crow-Armstrong is showing that despite only being a league-average hitter he can be extremely valuable for the Cubs. And he's only getting better.
The left-handed hitter now has a slash line of .229/.289/.400, good for a 99 wRC+ after his three-hit game at Dodger Stadium. Still, at 0.7 fWAR, Crow-Armstrong is tied for ninth-highest WAR in the National League.
PCA gives the Cubs gold glove defense in center field, creates nightmares for the defense when he's on base and now is making substantial improvements at the plate.
Pete Crow-Armstrong's average bat speed...
— Lance Brozdowski (@LanceBroz) March 29, 2025
2024: 70.6 mph
2025: 74.5 mph
1 mph of added bat speed is ~6 feet of batted-ball distance.
Batted balls w/ 74-75 mph bat speeds produced 134 more points of SLG than those 70-71 mph last year. 👀 @WatchMarquee
Wheels up! 📈 pic.twitter.com/TqeVkMS13O
Seems like it's only a matter of time before PCA takes another leap in his MLB career, which would greatly help the Cubs succeed in 2025 and beyond.
Ben Brown
Seeing the Justin Steele news drop on my timeline Sunday afternoon really was a gut-punch. You kinda knew it was coming, but you were hoping for the best. Ultimately, the worst-case scenario was confirmed and Steele is out for the year.
It reminded me of how I felt in 2016, when Kyle Schwarber's knee exploded in an outfield collision with Dexter Fowler in Arizona. You obviously felt horrible for Schwarber, but at the same time it didn't mean the season was over.
Yes, this is apples to oranges because the Cubs arguably needed to add another starting pitcher even with Steele healthy and now he's gone. Yet, I do think the current depth is fine to hold the Cubs over for a few months and going back to Saturday's game, it was great to see Ben Brown pitch to the highest of his abilities.
Brown has struggled with his command early in 2025, walking nine batters in his first 11.2 innings. But we've seen how good Brown can be when he has it all going right and that was the case against the Dodgers.
Facing the best lineup in baseball on the road, Brown tossed six fantastic innings in Los Angeles, allowing just five singles and no runs, setting up the Cubs to win a laugher against the Dodgers.
The six shutout innings against the Dodgers was obviously impressive, but the best sign of Brown's start was that he did not walk a batter. The fastball command was on point and he had batters flailing at his curve ball.
Ben Brown, Dirty 88mph Knuckle Curve. 😨 pic.twitter.com/Cuno3WZogO
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 13, 2025
Just like the Cubs needed to rely on their depth in 2016 after Schwarber's injury, the Cubs now need guys to step up in Steele's absence. We saw Colin Rea deliver a strong spot start on Sunday, but it's going to take more from the rotation to fill in for Steele.
That could very well end up being Ben Brown as the guy who over performs in 2025, which the Cubs need. Brown's win over the Dodgers was a good first showing in what is hopefully a breakout season for the right-hander in the Cubs starting rotation. If Brown does take another step forward, then the Cubs will be able to weather the storm without Steele.
