Chicago Cubs Tumble In Standings After Disastrous Road Trip

The Chicago Cubs are reeling after their disastrous series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

May 30, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Mark Leiter Jr. (38) gets ready to be taken out of the game. / Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports

Not too long ago, the Chicago Cubs were a first-place team.

Now, after their disastrous four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers, they find themselves in third place on the final day of May.

It's been a rough couple of weeks for the Cubs and their fans. After jumping out to a surprisingly hot start, Chicago surged to the top of the NL Central standings in early May. Trouble was already brewing, however, as the Cubs were dealing with a mountain of injuries, a disappearing offense and a shaky back of the bullpen.

Those injuries soon took their toll, and Chicago's performance plummeted.

A tough schedule hasn't helped, but the Cubs are now 4-12 over their last 16 games, falling below .500 for the first time since March, and slipping to third place for the first time since mid-April.

A look at the current NL Central standings after the Brewers take 3 of 4 against the Cubs 👀 pic.twitter.com/DwVIc1yCEi

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 30, 2024

Much of the damage occurred during Chicago's recent road trip, which mercifully concluded on Thursday.

When the Cubs left Wrigley Field last week after getting blanked 3-0 by the Atlanta Braves, they were only two games out of first with seven road games coming up against division rivals, including four against the only team ahead of them in the standings.

Unfortunately, Chicago won only one of those games.

Looking back now, last Friday's rainout against the St. Louis Cardinals was clearly a bad omen of things to come.

The unexpected day off didn't help the Cubs, who lost both games in St. Louis that weekend by one run. They faltered late in the first game and started slow in the second game, losing 1.5 games in the standings and giving more fuel to the hard-charging Cardinals.

Somehow, the their first trip to Milwaukee this season went even worse.

Former Brewers manager Craig Counsell got booed in his return on Monday, which Chicago lost 5-1. The Cubs bounced back for a 6-3 win in 10 innings on Tuesday, snapping their five-game losing streak and briefly stopping the bleeding.

Chicago proceeded to drop the next two games, however, 10-6 and 6-4. The series finale sent the Cubs below .500 to 28-29, 5.5 games behind Milwaukee and half a game behind St. Louis.

Even Shota Imanaga looked mortal.

Fortunately, it's still early.

Chicago still has 105 games left, including three this weekend at home against another division rival, the Cincinnati Reds. That's followed by two more home games against the putrid Chicago White Sox, proud owners of the worst record in baseball.

The Cubs will try to pull out of their epic tailspin at home, where they've played much better this season. Chicago is 15-11 with a plus-16 run differential at Wrigley Field compared to 13-18 with a minus-26 run differential everywhere else.

With back-to-back home series against last-place teams, the Cubs have a perfect opportunity to right the ship, put their poor May behind them, and start June on a high note.

Hopefully they can take advantage before they have to head back out on the road again.