Sunday Night Baseball returns to Wrigley Field this week where the San Francisco Giants take on the streaky Chicago Cubs at 7:20 p.m. ET in a game which can be seen on NBC and Peacock.
Somehow, 10 years have passed since the Cubs defeated Cleveland in the unforgettable 2016 Fall Classic, ending the club’s 108-year championship drought. Somehow, Anthony Rizzo is now on NBC’s team and will be back in Wrigley this weekend.
And despite a 10-game losing streak at the end of May, there remains hope for Chicago’s pennant hopes. Winners of 92 games and a playoff series last year, the team offset losing Kyle Tucker by signing Alex Bregman (Five years, $175 million) and trading top prospect Owen Caissie to Miami for Edward Cabrera.
Those moves haven’t panned out as planned, at least not yet. Cabrera has thrown 10 uninspiring starts and 54 innings and will return soon from a stint on the injured list due to a blister on his right middle finger. Bregman has hit just five home runs (1.8% HR%), but his power is coming back. He slugged a home run last Sunday and had one called back on replay the night prior. There’s every reason to believe Cabrera and Bregman will return to form.
And there’s hope that outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, now in the leadoff spot for Chicago, will shake off his slow start. Opening Day starter Matthew Boyd is close to returning from his stint on the injured list after a knee injury cost him five starts. Picking up for the injured starters, Ben Brown (1.92 ERA through 51.2 IP) has been sensational.
It hasn’t been a great season yet, but there’s plenty of time. Through 60 games, the Cubs were still on pace to win 86 games and very much in the playoff hunt.
On March 25, the day before the season started, the Dodgers were the odds-on favorite to win the World Series, priced at +210 on FanDuel. The Yankees were next at +1000.
But there were a host of strong N.L. challengers, with the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies all set to field strong challenges. The Mets have already suffered through a 12-game losing streak, the Phillies through a 10-game losing streak, and the Cubs a 10-game losing streak.
The Cubs entered the season +1800 to win the World Series, the fourth-longest World Series odds in the N.L, but they entered as a favorite to win their division (and possibly with a bye as one of the two top division winners). +1800 is the same as 18-1, or a little better than a 5% chance of winning the World Series.
On Thursday, June 4, FanGraphs gives the Cubs a 44% probability of making the postseason, a 9.1% probability of winning the N.L. Central, and a 1.5% chance of winning the World Series.
That’s not nothing.
As the late Cubs’ legendary announcer Harry Caray—or Jim Carrey’s character Lloyd Christmas might say from the 1994 comedy Dumb and Dumber “So you’re telling me there’s a chance?”
Yes, there’s a chance—and with starting position players Bregman, Dansby Swanson, Seiya Suzuki, and Ian Happ all on the wrong side of 30, their slim window may be closing quickly. Despite losing 14 of 17 entering play Thursday, the team is only one game out of a Wild Card spot.
A better story is breaking out on Chicago’s South Side, where the White Sox are also challenging for a postseason spot.
Last season, the White Sox were 60-102. In 2024, they were 41-121. In 2023, they were 61-101. In 2024, the White Sox won their 33rd game on September 8 (to make their record 33-111). The ChiSox won their 33rd game this season on June 3 (to make their record 33-29).
Something was brewing late last season on the South Side. In the second half of the season, the ChiSox had a positive run differential (scoring 315 and allowing 312). It’s a prime reason that according to the Pythagorean Theorem, the Pale Hose should have finished 71-91, and not 60-102.
And Senior V.P. and GM Chris Getz “gets” it. He had a strong offseason, despite trading Luis Robert Jr. The two main additions were Japanese power infielder Munetaka Murakami (two years, $34M) and closer Seranthony Dominguez (two years, $20 M).
Munetaka is on the IL with a hamstring injury, but the ChiSox have shown plenty of power even without him. Miguel Vargas is up to 15 homers, just one shy of his season total last year. The White Sox are fourth in the majors with 84 home runs. Last year, the White Sox were 23rd in HR with 165.
Through the first 60 games of the season, the Cubs and White Sox had the same record (32-28). That’s a pace for each to win 86 games.
There aren’t many seasons in history where both teams have won a minimum of 86 games each.
It’s happened nine times—but that includes 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, and 1937.
Seasons where Cubs and White Sox both won 86+ games since 1938:
- 1967 (Cubs 87 wins, White Sox 89)
- 2003 (Cubs 89 wins, White Sox 86)
- 2008 (Cubs 97 wins, White Sox 89)
2008 is the only season besides 1906 that both made postseason. In that season, Lou Piniella led the Cubs to 97 wins only to lose in the Division Series. Ozzie Guillen led the White Sox to 89 wins only to lose in the Division Series.
Still in play this year: both teams can win 90-plus games. That’s happened exactly twice: 1906 and 1905.
The other two-market regions (New York, Los Angeles, until recently the Bay Area) have all had much more success.
Seasons where both teams both won 86+ games
Note: Giants/Athletics only counts the seasons the Giants and A’s played in the Bay Area.
While the Dodgers and Angels never met in the World Series, both teams made it to the League Championship Series in 2009. The Angels lost the ALCS to the Yankees, while the Dodgers lost to the Phillies. That denied us all Joe Torre managing in the World Series against the Yankees.
The good thing about baseball fandom is that it is not a zero-sum game. North side fans in Wrigleyville can root for the Pale Hose. The Cubs’ real rivals are in St. Louis and Milwaukee. And White Sox fans (even the world’s most famous White Sox fan, Pope Leo XIV) can root for the Cubbies.
We have a chance for a rare year where both Chicago teams have winning records. Fly the “W” for both teams this year.
Editors’ Note: Elliott Kalb - dubbed “Mr. Stats” decades ago by Marv Albert and Bob Costas - is the former Senior Editorial Director at MLB Network and a longtime contributor of research and information to NBC Sports’ telecasts.
