Chicago Cubs dominant offense keeps World Series chatter alive

When the Chicago Cubs offense is clicking—like it was Wednesday night at Wrigley Field against the Atlanta Braves—it seems like the team is an unstoppable force and that all of their pitching deficiencies might be overcome by sheer force of hitting will.

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Wednesday night, for example, was a two-man hitting show with Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman producing 7 of the team’s 8 runs in the 8-4 win. When these two, alone, are hot, one could easily see them heading into the playoffs and scoring some big blows against teams that would appear to be better than them on paper.

“You’re shaking your head in amazement sometimes. In amazement,” manager Craig Counsell told reporters, referring to Crow-Armstrong’s 2-home run, 1 triple, 3-RBI game. “You spend your whole life in baseball, and you just don’t see this happen on the baseball field. You’re grateful to be a part of it. You’re grateful to see things like this.

“And you’re grateful that the fans get to see a season like this, because they’re going to tell their kids about it, they’re going to tell their grandkids about seasons like this.”

Bregman, meanwhile, went 3-for-4 with a home run, a triple, a double and 4 RBIs. He finished the day just a single shy of hitting for the cycle.

Beyond PCA and Bregman…

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The good news for a playoff-bound Cubs team is that, while PCA and Bregman are showing no signs of cooling down, Michael Busch, who was an absolute force in last season’s postseason run, is showing signs of coming to life. Right fielder Seiya Suzuki is due for a turnaround following a recent slump. Shortstop Dansby Swanson, a notoriously streaky hitter, will also be back in the lineup before the playoffs. Nico Hoerner became the spark plug for the Cubs’ offense late last season and could very well do the same this year.

Chicago has baseball’s most potent offense, even without some key contributors performing at top level right now. It’s scary to think of a Cubs offense firing on all cylinders just as it hits the playoffs.

World Series chatter, still

That’s why there’s still World Series chatter—both internally and externally—despite a bullpen that often appears to be in full-on collapse mode and a starting rotation that has suffered through inconsistencies all season.

“I don’t think we’ve ever lost sight of what our potential is. We still feel like we can absolutely be the last team standing,” outfielder Michael Conforto said after Wednesday’s game. “Regardless of what the standings say or what’s going on in the division, it doesn’t change the fact that we feel like we can win the rest of the series through the end of October.

“We have the experience and the mindset that that’s what it takes to be the last team standing: focus on winning the series the rest of the way. And then you get a ring at the end. I don’t think that confidence has ever been lost.”

“All the energy means good things. We understand that. We see it, we feel it, but we do have the ability to go out and focus on the job. That’s just kind of a unique thing for this group.”

It’s conventional baseball wisdom to point out that pitching wins championships. And that’s almost always the case. But this Cubs offense makes things happen and they’re hard to shut down because they can beat you in so many ways beyond the longball.

Time will tell what awaits the Cubs in the playoffs. But at this point, the team has no choice but to come in and bang away until

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