Neither Happ nor Suzuki aren’t helping the Cubs and themselves

After a 3-6 road trip, the Cubs return to Wrigley Field, where they have won 15 straight home games, to face the Milwaukee Brewers in a crucial NL Central race starting on Monday.

The Cubs dropped the opener 9-3, as the Brewers teed off on starter Shota Imanaga. Christian Yelich homered in the 2nd inning, then the Brewers broke the game open in the 4th with a string of sharp singles and a Sal Frelick RBI double. The knockout blow came in the 5th when Jake Bauers launched a three‑run homer, ending Imanaga’s day.

But the story of the night was once again their lifeless offense. The Cubs didn’t record a hit until the 5th inning against Brewers starter Brandon Sproat. Dansby Swanson hit a two‑run homer, and Michael Busch added an RBI double in the same inning, but that was all the scoring they did. The Cubs had a chance to score in the bottom of the first when Sproat walked Nico Hoerner and Michael Busch consecutively with no outs.

However, Alex Bregman, Ian Happ, and Seiya Suzuki all failed to advance the runners. The Cubs have not been able to capitalize on the mistakes made by the opposing pitchers, and that foreshadowed how the rest of the game would go.

Neither Happ nor Suzuki is coming up in the clutch so far

Manager Craig Counsell keeps running out the same middle‑order alignment, but the results are undeniable: the Cubs’ supposed run‑producers aren’t producing. Happ and Suzuki’s numbers with RISP paint a hollowing picture of how neither player has come up clutch so far this season. 

• Ian Happ: .160 AVG / .333 OBP / .300 SLG (38.1% strikeout rate)
• Seiya Suzuki: .125 AVG / .234 OBP / .225 SLG (42.6% strikeout rate)

With both Happ and Suzuki hitting free agency after this season, every missed opportunity, every stranded runner, every bases‑loaded failure chips away at their leverage. Middle‑of‑the‑order bats get paid big bucks. Players who shrink in big moments do not.

As Milwaukee now sits 0.5 games behind the Cubs and has a real shot at sweeping this series, Counsell has to do something. He has been patient — maybe too patient — with the current structure. But at some point, loyalty becomes stubbornness. And the data is screaming for change.

They cannot keep running the same lineup out and expecting different results. Put Happ in the leadoff spot, where his on‑base skills matter more than his power at the moment. Suzuki could be moved down to sixth, which would allow him to reset without the burden of run‑production expectations for the time being.

The Cubs don’t need a perfect lineup. They need one that doesn’t collapse every time runners reach bases.

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