Chicago Cubs’ ESPN midseason grade is a testament to their true grit

The Chicago Cubs are a second place team in the NL Central Division and are currently the top seed in the National League Wild Card race.

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Those aren’t overwhelmingly spectacular achievements as of right now, just a handful of games before the All-Star break—especially for a team heavily favored to win their division outright and make some big noise in the playoffs.

But for a team that has gone through what they have? The feat of simply competing at this point is really deserving of kudos.

Imagine any team, no matter how stacked and how all-around good, losing four of their five projected starting pitchers, as well as their closer and a handful of their high-leverage relievers. Nobody would look poorly on a team curled up in a proverbial ball, looking to next season after suffering through such a wave of injury and misfortune.

The Cubs, though, have kept fighting and have kept themselves in good standing as one of the better clubs in the league. All of this is a testament to the character of the team put together by Cubs president Jed Hoyer and his front office.

The Cubs’ midseason grade

Chicago Cubs, Dansby Swanson — Jun 30, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson (7) gestures after hitting a two-run homerun against the San Diego Padres during the fifth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images

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David Schoenfield of ESPN recently issued midseason grades for all 30 teams and gave the Cubs a good, solid B.

Per Schoenfield

“What a weird, wild ride this has been. Two 10-game winning streaks, a 10-game losing streak, another 11-2 stretch, and then those back-to-back games where they won 23-3 and then lost 17-1. Pete Crow-Armstrong is suddenly drawing walks and is hitting .292/.383/.527, so combine that with his spectacular defense and he’s a legitimate MVP contender, even against a two-way Shohei Ohtani.

The glaring problem: Cade Horton (last year’s breakout), Ben Brown (having a breakout season), Edward Cabrera and Jameson Taillon are all on the injured list, joining Justin Steele, who is still recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery. That would be one of the best rotations in the game if they were healthy. Oh, closer Daniel Palencia is also on the IL, as are key relievers Phil Maton and Hoby Milner. No team has a clearer mission at the trade deadline: Get some pitching reinforcements.”

True grit

Chicago Cubs, Pete Crow-Armstrong — Jun 4, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (4) celebrates with shortstop Dansby Swanson (7) after hitting a walk off RBI single against the Oakland Athletics during the ninth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The one thing that can’t be denied about this 2026 Cubs team is their gumption. They’ve proven their strength of character all throughout this season.

“I never saw our guys waver or falter today,” pitcher Jameson Taillon told reporters after a crazy come-from-behind victory back in April. “It would have been easy going down 5-0 and just kind of be like ‘welp, let’s go on the road we got swept’, it was just a really cool vibe and energy today where I thought everyone was picking each other up, guys passing the baton to each other as the game went.”

And they’ve been picking each other up and passing the baton all year.

This passing of gut-checks gives a definite degree of optimism for the second half of the season as some injured pitchers return and some high-profile additions can be made before the August 3 trade deadline.

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