Chicago Cubs: Not time to panic, but concerns are valid

The horrific stretch for the Chicago Cubs continues; they just lost their eighth straight to the lowly Houstros Astros on Sunday afternoon. They are 3-12 over their last 15 games, after the epic 20-3 stretch they had prior.

It has entered 2021-2022 levels of bad in terms of the length of the losing streak.

Last time Cubs swept in 6 game or more home series was 2021. Last 9 game loss streak in 2022. ( Also a ten game streak in 2022)

— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) May 24, 2026

Not even lineup shakeups over the past few days helped. Their bats are cold, the banged up starting pitching has unraveled, and even some bad defensive miscues have made these past two weeks a living hell for Cubs fans.

Is it time to panic about the Cubs?

There is a line between panic and concern being put in this context. Panic is feeling the season is doomed, while concern is more about uncertainty, but you are willing to let it play out knowing things can rebound. It’s hard to feel full-on panicked on Memorial Day weekend with a long way to go, but being concerned is valid.

One thing is for certain: they were not 20-3 good (nobody sustains winning 87% of games over 162), but they should not be this bad. There was going to be some regression from the 20-3 stretch, call it “self-correction” within baseball nature. The regression was likely not envisioned by many to be this ugly, however. It has gone from an inevitable cold stretch to a jumbled mess.

The long-term concern can be related to the starting pitching. Yes, the offense has been the main talking point lately, but these hitters are notoriously streaky. The rotation however is now down Edward Cabrera (blister), Matthew Boyd, Justin Steele, and Cade Horton (out for the season). Things get hard when you just don’t have the horses, especially paired with the two recent troubling starts from Shota Imanaga. It all adds up, and we have started to see that.

Looking ahead for the Chicago Cubs

To state the obvious, this team needs to play a heck of a lot better and ideally sooner than later. The Cubs have a big seven-game road trip against Pittsburgh and St. Louis up next. This team does not want to dig down deep and then need to burrow out of a hole they fell into.

It feels like it’s beyond just flipping a switch. Although they were riding high and then suddenly it all flipped in the blink of an eye. Baseball is funny (or in this case, not so funny) that way.

The next few weeks feel big. They can either right the ship, continue to sink, or, at the very least, stay afloat. It might not be panic time yet, but this continued stretch can make that a reality fairly quickly. Now we see how they respond on the road against the Pirates elite rotation.

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