The Cubs are at a season high over the break-even point.
The Cubs’ win over the Rockies Monday put them 12 games over .500, a 2025 season high.
It’s also the first time they’ve been 12 games over .500 since they were 76-64 after defeating the Giants Sept. 6, 2023. They looked on the way to the postseason, only 1½ games out of first place and with a wild-card spot in hand. Well, you know what happened: The team went 7-15 the rest of the way and finished 83-79.
I thought I’d take a look at a bit of history here to see what over-.500 milestones the Cubs can surpass in the near future, or maybe by the end of the season.
13 games over .500 (also 14 games over)
The last time the Cubs were 13 games over .500 was Sept. 17, 2019, at 82-69. That was after a 4-2 loss to the Reds that wound up being the first of a nine-game losing streak that took them out of any playoff consideration that year.
The previous game, an 8-2 win over the Reds Sept. 16, 2019, put them at 82-68. That was the high point of the 2019 season and the last of a five-game winning streak.
More than 14 games over .500
The last time the Cubs were more than 14 games over .500 was after the last scheduled game of the 2018 season, Sept. 30, 2018, when they defeated the Cardinals 10-5. That put them at 95-67, 28 games over .500, the high point of that season.
No sense in belaboring what happened the next day.
More than 28 games over .500
Before that 95-67 mark, the last time the Cubs were more than 28 games over .500 was the last day of the 2016 season, Oct. 2, 2016, when they defeated the Reds 7-4 to finish that regular season 103-58, or 45 games over .500. They had also reached 45 games over two other times that year, at 102-57 following another defeat of the Reds Sept. 30, 2016, and at 101-56 when they defeated the Pirates 6-4, Sept. 27, 2016.
More than 45 games over .500
For that, we have to go back quite a long way. That’s right, some of the best Cubs teams of recent times — 1969, 1984, 2008 — never got to 45 games over .500.
The last time the Cubs were more than 45 games over .500 was following a win over the Cardinals Sept. 27, 1935. That was the last game of their famous 21-game winning streak that year, and was the second game of a doubleheader sweep that put them at 100-52, 48 games over .500. The Cubs had clinched the pennant by winning the first game of that doubleheader, and then lost the last two games of the 1935 season to finish 46 games over .500 at 100-54.
The 100-win season in 1935 and 103-win season in 2016 are the Cubs’ only two 100-win seasons since 1910. Speaking of which…
More than 48 games over .500
The last time any Cubs team was more than 48 games over .500 was the last day of the 1910 season, Oct. 15, 1910 (yes, regular seasons went into mid-October often in those days!), when they defeated the Cardinals to finish the year 104-50, or 54 games over .500.
Just to wrap this up, the only times a Cubs team has reached heights more than 54 games over .500 were in 1909 (55 games over at 104-49 on the last day of the season), 1907 (64 games over .500, two days before that season ended, at 106-42) and 1906, when they finished the year 116-36, or 80 games over .500, which is not only the franchise record, but the MLB record for such things.
This year’s Cubs are currently playing at a .611 percentage, which would give them 99 wins if they could keep winning at that percentage all year, and a finish 36 games over .500.
I think we’d take that.