Are the Cubs back?

It’s a fun, tongue-in-cheek question that gets bandied about social media and fan circles whenever the team puts together a couple good games in a row.

In reality, the Cubs have had few extended runs of strong play since late-April and that led to the front office focusing more on 2025 and beyond at the trade deadline.

But a strong weekend at Wrigley Field has rekindled a bit of hope on the North Side.

The Cubs put the finishing touches on a series win over the Cardinals Sunday night with a 6-2 victory in front of 34,593 fans in person and millions more on TV for a national ESPN broadcast.

“We had to win,” said Mike Tauchman, who received a spot start in Ian Happ’s place and homered and doubled in the victory. “We gotta play our best baseball. We gotta stack wins and we gotta win series. Everybody knows the stakes in here and a really good performance all around. Good team win.”

The Cubs are now 6-3 in their last 9 games, winning series against a pair of teams (Cardinals, Royals) who are vying for a playoff spot.

If not for a defensive meltdown in the 8th inning Saturday, the Cubs would have had a sweep of the Cardinals in the 4-game set at Wrigley Field.

Still, October is a longshot for the North Siders.

The Cubs woke up Sunday morning with only a 5.4% chance of making the postseason, per FanGraphs. (That was bumped up to to 7.4% after Sunday’s MLB action.) There are 7 teams ahead of them in the crowded National League Wild-Card standings.

Even with Sunday’s win, the Cubs are still 4 games under .500 at 55-59 and 6 games back of the final Wild-Card spot.

“I think the guys just know we have to play our best ball,” Tauchman said. “There’s not a lot of room for error. The group believes in itself. We believe that we have the right people in here to rattle off some wins. But yeah, the results got to be here in the next [eight] weeks.”

If ever there was a time for the Cubs to make one last serious run at the playoffs, it would be now.

There are a couple of tough series coming up against postseason contenders (Twins and Guardians) but the Cubs play the White Sox for a pair of games on the South Side next weekend and also draw the rebuilding Blue Jays, Tigers, Marlins and Nationals over the rest of this month.

And most important of all: The Cubs are playing good, all-around baseball right now.

“If we keep winning games, we’ll give ourselves a chance,” said Justin Steele, who picked up his 3rd win of the season Sunday night.

With the addition of Isaac Paredes along with Cody Bellinger’s return from the IL the Cubs’ lineup has averaged 6 runs a game over their last 9 contests. That’s huge given it has been the offense that has underperformed the most since the team’s strong April.

Meanwhile, the starting pitching remains strong – Steele allowed 2 runs in 6.2 innings Sunday – and the bullpen has been the best in the game since late June. Apart from a tough day Saturday, the Cubs’ defense has also been a bright spot over the last several weeks.

The key, of course, will be how long the Cubs can keep all phases clicking at the same time.

“When the offense is scoring, it’s so much easier to pitch,” Steele said. “So hats off to them. Just makes my job easier on the mound, being able to attack guys knowing I have somewhat of a cushion. It’s awesome. The offense has been great lately and making plays on defense as well.”

The Twins come to town Monday night for a 3-game series at Wrigley Field. Minnesota currently holds the 2nd Wild-Card in the American League and are riding high after a 3-game sweep of the White Sox (who have lost 20 straight contests).

“I want to win with this group,” Tauchman said. “I believe in this group.”