ST. LOUIS — Craig Counsell and the Cubs are happy with the team’s performance at the midway point of the marathon that is the major league season.
They also realize it means next to nothing.
The Cubs sit in first place in the National League Central, three games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers. But no one wins a division crown near the end of June.
“You have to be pleased with how we’ve played the first half, but it’s a looking back thing,” Counsell said prior to Thursday’s finale against the Cardinals. “And so that doesn’t guarantee you anything moving forward.
“I think it just shows you can be a good baseball team, gives you confidence you can be a good baseball team.”
But there’s elements from the first half of the season that makes this start believable. The biggest on display in Thursday’s 3-0 win was Shota Imanaga.
[Willson Contreras, Daniel Palencia have heated exchange after Cubs-Cardinals]
The Cubs are 15 games above .500 while receiving very little from their co-aces to start the season, Imanaga and Justin Steele. Imanaga went down with a left hamstring injury and has made just nine starts. Steele pitched 22.2 innings across four starts before undergoing season-ending elbow surgery.
Imanaga returned on Thursday with five scoreless innings of one-hit ball, striking out three and walking one.
“I was very grateful because during my rehab process, the team was playing really well, so today didn’t really feel like my first start coming back from rehab,” Imanaga said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “It was just, ‘OK, let’s even up this series, it’s very critical.’”
“Today didn’t really feel like my first start coming back from rehab, it was just, ‘Okay, let’s even up the series.'”
Shota was dialed in for his start today 🔥 pic.twitter.com/NOGlBGL4Ij
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) June 26, 2025
Along with Wednesday’s starter, Matthew Boyd, Imanaga is the type of arm that makes the team believe they can win that day’s game. That’s crucial given what the team had gone through before Wednesday.
The team had lost the first two game of the series, tying their longest losing streak of the season, and had lost five of six – it was their lowest point of the season, which also shows just how strong their year had been. That’s why there was no panic. That’s why they were able to bounce back.
“I don’t think we look at it like that,” Michael Busch said after Thursday’s win. “It’s just kind of like, no matter if the day goes well, if the day goes bad, just kind of resetting and coming back and trying to win the day. Just kind of putting the games in the past whether we win or lose and trying to look forward to Houston.”
The Space City is where the Cubs will face a stiff test – and a homecoming for Kyle Tucker and Ryan Pressly. The Astros are 48-33, despite trading away their superstar (Tucker) and missing another – Yordan Alvarez – to injury. They’re the second-best team in the American League and will be a litmus test for the Cubs.
It’s an opportunity to build off the strong first half – and prove they’re for real.
“Now, you have to do it for another 81 games. That’s how the season works,” Counsell said. “It’s why the regular season baseball is a great test that involves everything. It involves injuries, involves struggles, involves winning streaks, losing streaks.
“We’re halfway through it, but we know that there’s a lot of all those events that [have] yet to happen. Ready for it and looking forward to it.”