The Cubs and Astros meet at Wrigley Field on Friday night with both clubs looking for a reset, but it is the home team that arrives carrying the heavier drag. Chicago has lost nine of its last 11 games since April 9 and fell out of first place earlier this month, entering the weekend in second, 1 1/2 games behind the Brewers after Milwaukee took three straight from the Cubs this week.
The numbers behind the skid are hard to ignore. The Cubs have been outscored 59-31 in that span, are batting.182 and have been outhomered 20-7. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ian Happ each have four hits in their last 37 at-bats, Dansby Swanson is 5-for-34, Moises Ballesteros is 1-for-18 and Matt Shaw has gone hitless in 14 at-bats. Alex Bregman, by contrast, has hit.286 over the same stretch and leads the club in hits with 12 in the last 11 games.
That mismatch matters because Friday’s game opens a series that already feels like a pressure point for both teams. The Cubs were in first place since the first day of the month before the slide pushed them back, while the Astros arrive 4-8 since April 9, 11 games under.500 and in fourth place in the AL West. Houston has also been outscored 52-23 in that stretch, batting.186 and averaging only 1.9 runs a game.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell did not hide the mood around his club, saying the team is in a funk and it is up to the players to change it. Houston has its own version of the same problem. Yordan Alvarez said the club is struggling a little right now, a fair description for a lineup trying to do damage while the pitching staff keeps thinning out.
The Astros are already missing Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier with shoulder strains, and they added Lance McCullers to the injured list this week with shoulder inflammation. Spencer Arrighetti, their rookie of the year in 2024, has been their best pitcher this season, but he missed five months last year after a fractured thumb suffered when he was hit by a batted ball in batting practice. That leaves the club short on depth just as the Cubs are trying to steady a rotation that has not held up in recent turns.
In Chicago’s last two full trips through the rotation, Shota Imanaga was the only starter to finish longer than five innings. He threw seven innings and allowed two runs in a 4-1 loss to the Braves, then lasted only 4 1/3 innings and gave up eight runs in a 9-3 loss to the Brewers on Monday night. Edward Cabrera was pulled after one pitch in the fourth inning on Wednesday night because of a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand, and the Cubs should know by Friday whether he can make his next start. If he can, Counsell might choose a sixth day of rest for Imanaga and give Ben Brown the start on Sunday.
Wind is expected to blow in for all three games at Wrigley Field, according to the app Wrigley Winds, which could make offense even harder to come by. Jameson Taillon is scheduled to face the Astros on Friday, with Colin Rea set for Saturday, as the Cubs try to stop a slide that has turned a solid early-month lead into a much less comfortable chase.
