The National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers are coming to town for a five-game set against the Chicago Cubs, starting with a doubleheader on Monday at Wrigley Field.
Here’s the math.
A Cubs sweep puts them three games out of first place.
A Brewers sweep means the Cubs would be 13 games back with 34 games left in the season.
Logic would say that the results would fall in the middle and the Cubs would be somewhere between 5-10 games back. But this season, logic is not a part of the equation.
Whatever happens, the Cubs know they will be in a battle against a team that won 14 of its last 15 games and had a 14-game win streak snapped in Cincinnati on Sunday.
“This series has a lot of attention and there will be a great atmosphere,” left fielder Ian Happ said after the Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 on Sunday at Wrigley Field to prevent a fourth straight series loss. “They play fundamental baseball. They run the bases well, they play defense well. They pitch and hit. We just have to go out and play our game.”
Cubs manager Craig Counsell, who managed the Brewers from 2015-23, is looking forward to doing battle with his old team.
Chicago Cubs starter Javier Assad pitches during the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
“We’re excited for the series,” he said. “We’re getting to the point where the number of games left means that the games are important and the wins are helpful.”
Dansby Swanson, who was honored Sunday with a bobblehead of him and his wife, Chicago Stars standout Mallory Swanson, hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to bring home Carson Kelly with what turned out to be the winning run for the Cubs in front of a crowd of 38,012.
Happ and Pete Crow-Armstrong each had two hits for the Cubs (70-53). Starter Javier Assad, pitching in just his second game this season after suffering an oblique injury, gave up one run on five hits in four innings.
While the Cubs salvaged the Pirates series, the offense is still scuffling, scoring nine runs in three games against a last-place team one series removed from getting blown out 33-6 by the Brewers.
Here are three takeaways before the big series.
1. The lineup will not have any big changes
Chicago Cubs pinch hitter Owen Caissie in his first at-bat at Wrigley Field during the seventh inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Some fans are thirsting for sweeping changes in a Cubs lineup that is not producing the runs and showing the power it had before the All-Star break.
Counsell was partially amused and partially piqued before Sunday’s game when asked by members of the media about the lineup.
“What do you guys — what do you want to do?” Counsell said. “Why don’t you tell me what you want to happen and then I’ll respond to that.”
Someone suggested third baseman Matt Shaw, whose 1.086 OPS since the All-Star break ranked third in the National League, should be moved from ninth to higher up in the order.
“Looking at (leadoff hitter) Michael Busch, he’s a really good hitter,” Counsell said. “He’s a very productive hitter. And we want that guy to hit a lot. Yeah.
“Matt’s had a nice two-week stretch where he’s been productive and we tried to put him in good matchups. And we try to develop him as well.”
Another suggestion was giving slumping Happ some time off in favor of rookie Owen Caissie, who was tearing it up at Triple-A Iowa.
“Ian’s a really good baseball player,” Counsell said. “Ian’s had some bad luck this year, if you want to check that. And he’s swung the bat pretty, pretty darn well. This is where baseball gets tough. There is not much difference between Ian’s season last year and in 2023 and this year. Do you make a decision based off of that?”
Caissie was called up Thursday and went 0-for-4 in one game against the Toronto Blue Jays, then sat out the first two games against Pittsburgh. He was a pinch hitter on Sunday and popped out to third.
Happ, who entered the game 4-for-26 in his previous eight games, got back on track.
Counsell said that Caissie will play in one of the doubleheader games against the Brewers on Monday.
2. Fans are turning on Kyle Tucker
Chicago Cubs outfielders Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker celebrate after defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 at Wrigley Field on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
There was a time this season when right fielder Kyle Tucker would single or hit a home run and fans on social media would say, “Pay the man whatever he wants!”
Tucker, who came to the Cubs in an offseason trade with Houston with one year left on his contract, was speculated by some to command a $500 million price tag on his next contract.
Now that he is in a slump — he hasn’t homered since July 19 and hits have been hard to come by — fans are getting testy with him. On Sunday, when he didn’t run out of the batter’s box on a grounder to first in the sixth inning, he was loudly booed.
3. Start thinking about the wild card
Since the Cubs have not been in the postseason since 2020, let’s have a refresher course on the playoffs.
The American League and National League each get six representatives — three division champs and three wild cards.
The top seed is the team with the league’s best record, the second seed is the second-best division winner and the third seed is the third-best division winner. The top two seeds will get first-round byes. It’s looking like the Cubs won’t have to worry about that.
As of Sunday, the Cubs own the top NL wild-card mark and would be the fourth seed and host the fifth seed, another wild-card team, in a best-of-three series at Wrigley Field.
Playing at home and having starters Shota Imanaga, Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd doesn’t sound like a bad deal right now.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
Originally Published: August 17, 2025 at 6:17 PM CDT