3 Cubs hitters who need to get it together before the season slips away

Clutch hitting has been notably absent from the Chicago Cubs' lineup in recent weeks, and the team is struggling to score runs at the wrong time of the season.

The Milwaukee Brewers are sitting in first place after surging back from, at one point, being seven games behind the Cubs in the standings. They are playing the best ball of the year, and of any club in MLB for that matter, while the Cubs are aggressively slumping at the plate, now staring at a four-game deficit in the NL Central.

Here are three Cubs hitters who need to get their act together to save the 2025 season from another Brewers NL Central championship.

1. Pete Crow-Armstrong

Pete Crow-Armstrong has arguably been Chicago's best hitter this year, but the last month has seen some of his bad habits reemerge at the plate. The 23-year-old has struck out 27 times over his last 22 games, and his at-bats in the last week have been uncompetitive enough for manager Craig Counsell to temporarily remove the former MVP candidate from the starting lineup.

According to Baseball Savant, Crow-Armstrong is among the worst in the league in chase% (43.4 percent), Whiff% (29.1 percent), and walk rate (4.3 percent). Crow-Armstrong is still very young, and every player goes through rough stretches, but the Cubs need him to be a bit more selective at the plate if they want to score more runs.

2. Seiya Suzuki

For much of the season, Seiya Suzuki has been the driver of the offense. For as much as people think Kyle Tucker has been skidding at the plate, he has at least been taking walks and getting on base at a .372 clip over the last month. The bigger problem is that Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong have struggled to drive him in since the All-Star break.

In the second half, Suzuki has just 5 runs batted in, a .498 OPS, and a 53 wRC+ in 67 plate appearances. As the three-hole hitter, the Cubs are counting on Suzuki to put the ball in play and keep the lineup moving, but he's failed consistently to do that over the last few weeks.

3. Michael Busch

First baseman Michael Busch has seen a similar regression at the plate in the 16 games since the All-Star break, where he has slashed .155/.246/.259 with a 48 wRC+. The left-handed hitter also has just two home runs, two RBI and nine hits in that timeframe.

It's no wonder the team has only put up double-digit runs one time since the Midsummer Classic, and thankfully that was in a game against the Brewers. The three players listed above were fueling the Cubs' high-octane offense for much of the first half of the season, and they need to return to form quickly.

The Cubs still have five games against the Brewers in a pivotal series at Wrigley Field starting on August 18. Whoever wins that series will likely be in first place and have the advantage in the season series, which could decide who makes it into the playoffs if both teams finish the regular season with the same record.