Cubs taking a narrow view of upcoming series against Brewers, Cardinals

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A little over a month ago, the Cubs were coming off a brutal three-game sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals, leading to Theo Epstein having to field a round of questions about his team’s slow start to the 2018 season. 

“We’re an extremely talented team that’s playing well below our capability,” Epstein said. “Not that we’re a perfect team at all, but we’re obviously more talented than this.”

That sweep in St. Louis dropped the Cubs to 16-15 through their first 31 games. Through their next 31, culminating with a 7-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates Sunday at Wrigley Field, the Cubs went 21-10. In that stretch, this team only dropped two series (and have won five consecutive sets) and out-scored their opponents by 58 runs. 

There’s a reason for this little bit of statistical cherry-picking, though: The Cubs have exactly 100 games left in the regular season. One-quarter of those games will be against the Milwaukee Brewers (11) and Cardinals (14), led off by a three-game series in Milwaukee this week and followed by another three-gamer at Busch Stadium this coming weekend. 

It would be easy to put a significant amount of stress on these two upcoming series against the two teams the Cubs will probably be battling with for the National League Central. But the Cubs won’t win or lose the division this week, and manager Joe Maddon isn’t too keen on entertaining the long-term importance of six games in the middle of June. 

“I think the best way to approach, when you’re playing real good teams in your division, is to not get too far-sighted,” Maddon said. “It’s the micro time. It’s about Monday, then it will be about Tuesday, then it will be about Wednesday. Always the trap is to get caught in the macro moment — don’t do it. Just don’t do it.” 

That’s not to say Maddon and his players don’t recognize the importance of divisional games, of course. But players aren’t looking at the standings and viewing this week as a critical opportunity to lurch ahead of the Brewers or put the Cardinals to the sword. It’s just June, after all. 

“They’re just another game for us,” right-hander Kyle Hendricks said. “Yeah, it is June, we’re trying to keep on playing good baseball regardless of opponent.”

The Cubs managed to take two out of three from the Pirates despite only scoring six runs, and the feeling is that this team hasn’t fired on all cylinders yet. And yet, they’ve won a little over two-thirds of their games since hitting a low point after Dexter Fowler’s walk-off 14th inning home run in St. Louis last month. 

The point being: A lot can change in 31 games. The Cubs still have 100 left. And that’s why the focus will remain narrow around a team that hasn’t fallen short of reaching the National League Championship Series since 2014. 

“When you play the division, people will let you know more, the cat and mouse game is a little bit more real,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. “It’s just about taking advantage of opportunities when we get it and continue to play good baseball.” 

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