Chicago Cubs Manager Speaks About Disappointing 2024 Season

Craig Counsell recently spoke about the disappointing season for the Chicago Cubs

Sep 15, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell (30) in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs wrapped up the 2024 season with a 83-79 record, which wasn’t good enough to reach the playoffs in the National League this season. 

Despite finishing over .500 this season, the Cubs were never really contenders this season. Throughout the last couple of weeks, manager Craig Counsell has been fairly outspoken about the team's performance this season. 

While finishing over .500 isn't a bad season by any means, Chicago had expectations of making the playoffs this year after finishing a game short in the last campaign. 

One of the issues for the Cubs this year was certainly their consistency. Chicago got off to a hot start this season, as they went 17-10 in the month of April. However, they then followed it up by going 10-18 in May and 11-16 in June. 

An 18-8 month in August gave the team a glimmer of hope, but they finished September with a 13-13 record and were well out of the race in the National League Central and NL Wild Card races. 

With the season coming to a close, Counsell recently spoke about the season and what he wants from the team moving forward. 

“I’m here to experience the postseason, we didn’t get there this year so that means that there’s work to do, and I think I’ve said that,” manager Craig Counsell said to Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune . “We won 83 games, that wasn’t enough to make the playoffs. That wasn’t enough to give our fans October baseball. That’s what we should be striving to do. That’s what we should do on a consistent basis, in my mind, and that means we got work to do with the offseason starting tomorrow. It’s never going to be about one person. I mean, that is my job is to help us win baseball games. So I should be expected to do that, absolutely. We didn’t do it this year.”

As Chicago heads into the offseason, they will certainly be trying to find ways to improve this team. Luckily, the Cubs have a strong pitching rotation that they can rely on with Justin Steele and Shota Imagana leading the way. However, the bullpen could certainly use some arms to improve there a bit. 

Where the team will likely be focused is in the lineup. Third base was a bit of an issue for Chicago for most of the season, and seems like a realistic position that they will try to look to upgrade. 

While finishing over .500 was nice, Counsell certainly has much higher expectations for the franchise.