The Cubs had a good week, but that was tempered by the likely loss of Shōta Imanaga for a while.
We don’t yet know what will happen with Shōta Imanaga, who will have an MRI today to determine the damage to his left hamstring. At that point we’ll know more about how long the Cubs will miss him.
You know, this team does have some depth. When they lost Justin Steele for the season, Colin Rea stepped up and has been great. The Cubs could use Chris Flexen to fill in for Imanaga, or call up Cade Horton from Triple-A Iowa.
They’ll likely need to look at trading for a starter at the deadline, but for now this team probably has enough pitching and offense to weather the storm.
Now let’s look at who was hot and not for the Cubs over the last week, when they went 4-2 on a road trip to Pittsburgh and Milwaukee.
Three up
Pete Crow-Armstrong had a weird “hot” week
PCA hit four home runs on the road trip. That’s really good!
PCA had only one other hit in the six games, resulting in a wacky slash line of .208/.208/.708 (5-for-24). That’s a .916 OPS for the week, which is pretty good, but … that’s a strange way to get there. He did strike out only twice all week.
Dansby Swanson came out of his slump
Swanson had a hit in all six games on the trip and overall batted .409/.435/.818 (9-for-22) with three home runs and six runs scored. All three homers were solo. Over the six games Swanson’s season OPS went from .577 to .684.
Carson Kelly remains a hot hitter
Kelly played in four of the six games, had a hit in all four, and batted .438/.500/.688 (7-for-16) with a home run. He doesn’t have enough plate appearances to qualify, but his .513 OBP is outstanding over 76 PA. He’s also struck out only six times, the only MLB player this year to have at least seven home runs and fewer K’s than HR.
Overall, Cubs catchers are batting .298/.387/.579. The .966 OPS is second only to the Mariners (1.051, mostly Cal Raleigh). The improvement in catcher batting for the Cubs over 2024 is a big reason why the Cubs are doing so well.
Honorable mention to Imanaga, who had a 1.69 ERA for the two starts he made on the road trip. The two runs charged to him Sunday scored after he left the game.
Further honorable mention to Ian Happ, who also had a hit in all six games on the trip and overall batted .417/.481/.500 (10-for-24).
One last honorable mention to Ben Brown, who had an outstanding six-inning scoreless outing on Friday.
Three down
Julian Merryweather did not have a good Sunday
After two scoreless outings earlier on the road trip, Merryweather threw a wild pitch with his first offering Sunday and eventually allowed two hits, a walk and two runs while retiring only one batter. Hopefully this is a one-off bad outing.
Michael Busch had a slow week
Busch hit .190/.261/.333 (4-for-21) in the six games. Fortunately, though, one of those four hits was a grand slam against the Brewers Friday.
I’m sure you’d like to see that one again [VIDEO].
Miguel Amaya, nearly forgotten man
Amaya played in only two games on the trip and went 0-for-7. Even so, his season line of .254/.282/.433 is decent enough. Amaya and Kelly have pretty much split the catching time evenly. Amaya has started 17 games and has 72 PA. Kelly has started 18 games and has 76 PA. Craig Counsell has managed the catching situation expertly.