Are the Chicago Cubs Finally Hitting a Wall at a Very Scary Time?

Let’s be honest, the Chicago Cubs were due.

With their series-opening win over the Texas Rangers this week, they became only the fifth team in MLB history to have two 10-game winning streaks in their first 40 games. It’s been one of the most impressive starts to a season in franchise history, especially when we consider the repeated late-inning comebacks and consecutive walk-off wins. Heck, they were even stringing together these victories with a heavily depleted bullpen. Few teams in baseball have watched more pitchers hit the IL this season.

When you win 27 of your first 39 games, you can live with a pair of losses on the road. It’s why no one should be pressing the panic button over this series loss to the Texas Rangers, even if their own start to the year has been less than stellar. Still, there is also no avoiding that these last two games have been a relatively hard fall back down to earth.

The Rangers managed to keep the Cubs off the board in two consecutive games for the first time this season. In fact, it was only the fourth and fifth times in 2026 that the Cubs failed to put a run on the board. To make matters worse, Chicago went 0-17 with runners in scoring position over these two outings. This included a 0-13 showing in Saturday’s loss before they mustered a mere three hits against Jacob deGrom on Sunday afternoon.

As for the pitching department, it sure didn’t help that Edward Cabrera had his worst day yet. The former Marlins arm allowed seven hits and five earned runs over his 5.0 innings pitched, only for Jacob Webb to check in and allow another quick run. Jameson Taillon did a better job of limiting the damage 24 hours later with only one run given up, but the Cubs’ Daniel Palencia failed to keep it close after allowing an eighth-inning single before a two-run homer.

It was the exact opposite of what Cubs fans grew used to in recent weeks. No late-game offensive punch or efficient relief performance. On Sunday, we even saw back-to-back three-up, three-down innings for the offense to close out the night. Again, it is not a reason for anyone to start shaking in their cleats, but it is a reason to be slightly concerned about what the rest of the month might hold.

Cubs’ Upcoming Schedule Only Gets Tougher

The Cubs will now depart Texas for Georgia. They will take on the Atlanta Braves for the first time this season, and they will do so only a couple of games after surpassing them in the NL and MLB standings.

No one was hotter than Atlanta to begin the year. They had not lost a series until the first week of May, when the Seattle Mariners finally took them down out West. The Dodgers would then pull off a series-opening win to give the Braves only their second losing streak of the season. But then they hopped right back on the saddle.

Atlanta is coming off back-to-back 7-2 wins over the superstar-studded Los Angeles Dodgers. The dominant victories have helped them maintain a league-leading .789 OPS, as well as a first-place standing in RBIs. Add in that their team ERA is 3.14, which includes a 3.02 ERA for their starting arms, and there is an easy case to make that they should still comfortably sit at the top of the power rankings.

While Chicago will get to return home after this three-game set, it will be for the first Crosstown Classic of the year. All things considered, records tend to be thrown out the window during this heated rivalry. Both teams are notorious for grabbing a page out of the Michael Jordan textbook and taking the matchup personally. However, that isn’t the only reason the Cubs should be on high alert.

The White Sox are off to their best start in years. The team’s young nucleus has exceeded expectations, posting a record of 19-21 to sit second in the AL Central. Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery have looked like the star duo the South Side has been waiting for, combining for 25 home runs so far this season.

The Sox’ pitching staff has also looked better and better as the year has gone on. The good news for the Cubs is that they should dodge both Noah Schultz and Sean Burke, who have been two of the Sox’ better strikeout pitchers. Nonetheless, they will face veteran Davis Martin, who has arguably been the team’s best arm with a ridiculous 1.62 ERA and a walk rate that sits in the league’s 95th percentile.

Who awaits the Cubs after that? Their pesky NL Central rival! Milwaukee has had Chicago’s number time and again over the last couple of seasons, and they remain right on their tail for the division after going 7-3 in their last ten games. To little surprise, only two teams have struck out less than the Brewers this season.

Look, no one is going to be stunned if the Cubs still walk away from this stretch with considerably more wins than losses. They have shown the ability to rise to the occasion time and again. At the same time, they have entered some unfamiliar territory over these last two days, and we all know a 162-game season tends to come with its ups and downs. If they can somehow avoid allowing these next few weeks to be considered the latter, it will only speak further to why they are a true World Series threat.