Listen for the qualifiers when Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts or president of business operations Crane Kenney talks about buying at the deadline.
They’re there, and president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and general manager Carter Hawkins are quick to point them out.
“If this stays consistent and we continue to win at the rate that we’ve been winning, that’s where we’ll be,” Hawkins said before the Cubs’ 8-5 loss on Wednesday. “And certainly, we’ll be looking to contend if that continues to happen. And that’s our plan to make that happen.”
As hot of a stretch as the Cubs were on entering the London Series, they hadn’t yet convinced the front office it was time to add at the Aug. 1 trade deadline.
They’d made progress. Three weeks ago, Hoyer was saying the team had to go on a winning streak. The Cubs delivered 11 wins in 13 games, from the Giants series through the first game in London.
“You want to evaluate the division, you also want to evaluate yourself,” Hoyer said in London. “And having us play the way we are, certainly, this is the team that we felt like we were in April, in spring training. And let’s continue to play like this. We did this for 25 games to start the season, but let’s continue it.”
So, he still needs to see that? He’s not ready to make any declarations five weeks before the deadline?
“I expect this to be a late deadline for everybody because everything’s jumbled up,” Hoyer said. “So I expect that we’re going to be towards the end for a lot of teams.”
The past few days have provided an example of how quickly momentum can turn.
“When you’re playing good, you don’t want any off days,” Ross said in London. “When you’re playing bad, you want as many as you can get.”
The Cubs were playing some of their best baseball of the season when they were hit with three off days in less than a week to make travel to and from the London Series possible.
They still beat the Cardinals 9-1 in Game 1, in a perfect example of what had been making them click. Starter Justin Steele set the tone, the Cubs’ bats stayed hot, and the relievers were comfortable in their roles.
Over the next three games, however, the Cubs’ starting pitching faltered. Marcus Stroman left his start Sunday with a blister on his right index finger. Jameson Taillon continued to struggle with consistency against lefties on Tuesday. Drew Smyly recorded his second-shortest start of the season on Wednesday.
The Cubs lost all three games, logging consecutive losses for the first time since they were swept by the Angles three weeks ago.
Three games is barely a losing streak, but the Cubs have to prove that they can right the ship quickly, something they failed to do during a rough stretch in May.
The Cubs’ loss Wednesday held some promising signs for the offense.
The team called up Jared Young to provide a left-handed bat off the bench and another option at first base. In his first major-league at-bat of the season, he launched the first home run of his major-league career.
Even after the Phillies took an explosive early lead, the Cubs kept chipping away. Dansby Swanson also homered. And the Cubs turned two singles and a pair of walks into a two-run fifth inning. They tacked on another in the ninth.
What does the front office need to see in order to break the streak of two straight years of trading away impact players at the deadline?
“More of the same,” Hawkins said before the game Wednesday. “That consistency of putting together all three phases of our game: the offense, the defense and the pitching. And obviously, that leads to wins. Wins lead to improving our playoff odds. And as we do that more and more, it puts us in a position to buy.”
