{"id":209015,"date":"2025-09-08T01:32:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T01:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/209015\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T01:32:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T01:32:11","slug":"3-takeaways-from-a-3-3-homestand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/209015\/","title":{"rendered":"3 takeaways from a 3-3 homestand"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the just-completed homestand, the Chicago Cubs had three wins, three losses and three injuries to key players.<\/p>\n

Reliever Daniel Palencia gave up five ninth-inning runs without retiring a batter in Sunday\u2019s 6-3 collapse to the Washington Nationals in front of a Wrigley Field crowd of 33,343. Fans were going wild after the Cubs scored what looked like an insurance run in the eighth inning as Carson Kelly hit his second home run of the day.<\/p>\n

But the 3-1 lead evaporated quickly and Palencia left the game with a posterior right shoulder injury.<\/p>\n

The Cubs already lost right fielder Kyle Tucker<\/a> to a left calf injury on Tuesday and center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong<\/a>, who fouled a ball off his right knee on Saturday. Neither has been placed on the injured list, but they are taking time off.<\/p>\n

Add Palencia (1-6, 22 saves) to that list.<\/p>\n

\u201cDanny felt some tightness in his posterior right shoulder,\u201d Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. \u201cThat\u2019s all we have right now. It\u2019s probably better to let it calm down a little bit and see how we are in a day or so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Counsell said there was a \u201cvery small incident\u201d with the closer\u2019s shoulder a few months ago, but it lasted just a day and had been good since.<\/p>\n

The Cubs (81-62) had momentum going into the ninth. But Robert Hassell III hit his third home run of the season and pinch hitter Josh Bell belted a three-run shot to turn the game upside down for the Cubs and help improve the Nationals\u2019 record to 58-84.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs catcher Carson Kelly hits his second home run of the game against the Washington Nationals at Wrigley Field on Sept. 7, 2025, in Chicago. (Stacey Wescott\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Here are three takeaways from the homestand, which included the induction of Sammy Sosa and Derrek Lee<\/a> into the Cubs Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

1. Outfielders are still mending
\n\"CubsChicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong is tended to by medical staff after fouling a ball off his right knee during the sixth inning against the Washington Nationals on Sept. 6, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (Sage Zipeto\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Tucker and Crow-Armstrong did not play Sunday and their availability this week in Atlanta is touch-and-go.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing new on Kyle,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cI don\u2019t think he will start in the lineup (Monday) but he might be available.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crow-Armstrong might be a different story if he progresses as well as he did on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cPCA came in feeling good and that\u2019s a good sign,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cGetting him moving around today is a good sign. It\u2019s not just an off day. We will see how we feels and make a lineup decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Don\u2019t slight the old guys
\n\"CubsChicago Cubs first baseman Michael Busch, left, rains bubble gum on teammate Justin Turner as they celebrate Turner\u2019s walk-off home run to defeat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3, on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

To critics, veterans Justin Turner, 40, and Carlos Santana, 39, are wasting roster spots and do not add value to the team.<\/p>\n

Their production isn\u2019t much to brag about. Turner is hitting .209 through 73 games with three home runs and 15 RBIs. Since the Cubs signed Santana on Aug. 31<\/a>, he is 0 for 10.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t tell 23-year-old Crow-Armstrong these two don\u2019t have value. He swears by some of the wisdom and advice these two have provided, even though Santana hasn\u2019t been with the team that long.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would be foolish not to listen to his life and career experiences,\u201d he said of Turner. \u201cHe\u2019s been very generous with all that. He presented that from the first day that we were teammates. JT has just given himself to this team in a way that you can\u2019t put a price on.<\/p>\n

\u201cJT has done a whole lot of good for this team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santana is also someone to listen to.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile JT is not the toughest guy but he is honest and blunt,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cCarlos is a little more direct in the point he is trying to make. That\u2019s the beauty of it. You have JT, who is laid back, and you can just tell speaking to Carlos that he is intense and just loves this game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crow-Armstrong said that if either of the veterans decides to use some tough love, he would be OK with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really respond to that kick in the (rear),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Counsell said that having a veteran presence in the clubhouse helps a team.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlayers like Carlos and Justin have experienced so much,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cI think you are at a stage in your career where you want to impart that knowledge to younger players. You enjoy doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Don\u2019t slight the wild card<\/p>\n

The Cubs\u2019 cave-in against the Nationals on Sunday and the Milwaukee Brewers\u2019 10-2 thrashing of the Pittsburgh Pirates give the Brewers a 7 1\/2-game lead in the National League Central with 19 games left for the Cubs.<\/p>\n

Math is not on Chicago\u2019s side.<\/p>\n

However, the Cubs do hold a 3 1\/2-game lead<\/a> in the National League wild-card standings.<\/p>\n

That may not be the worst thing in the brief history of the latest playoff format.<\/p>\n

Since 2022, the teams with the best two records in the National League have received byes and just one of them has won their first postseason series \u2014 the Los Angeles Dodgers last year.<\/p>\n

So, the odds indicate that a spot in the wild-card series might not be a bad thing.<\/p>\n

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the just-completed homestand, the Chicago Cubs had three wins, three losses and three injuries to key players.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":209016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,1271,5386,1818,1822,1291,1272],"class_list":{"0":"post-209015","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-chicago-cubs","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-mlb-baseball","13":"tag-washington-nationals","14":"tag-wrigley-field"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115166101103136634","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}