3 way-too-early overreactions from the Cubs’ poor showing in the Tokyo Series

The sky is falling. The season is over. We're in store for another disappointing season as Chicago Cubs fans. At least, that's the dominant narrative online after Craig Counsell's club dropped both games of the Tokyo Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers this week.

Nothing makes you feel ready for a day quite like watching your favorite team look laughably outmatched on the international stage at 5 a.m. But that sentiment doesn't mean the Cubs are doomed. Here are 3 overreactions to the Cubs' lackluster showing at the Tokyo Dome against the reigning World Series champs.

The Cubs' offense remains broken - despite the Kyle Tucker signing

Counsell and players alike noted the experience of the past week, getting to open the 2025 MLB season overseas and all the excitement and fanfare that came with it. But at the end of the day, watching Chicago's at-bats, it felt eerily reminiscent of the same sporadic offense we saw last season.

As a team, the Cubs slashed .172/.274/.219 in the two-game series, scoring just four runs and striking out in 32.8 percent of their at-bats. At one point, they had actually gone 0-for-27 between the end of the opener and the start of Wednesday's game, the equivalent of a no-hitter, before snapping to behind Jon Berti's three hits.

But the Cubs' 2-3-4 hitters - Seiya Suzuki, Kyle Tucker and Michael Busch - combined for one hit, a ninth-inning double from Tucker in the series finale - hardly the heart-of-the-order production the team will need from them this season. Instead of rising to the occasion in his return to Japan, Suzuki went 0-for-8 with four strikeouts out of the two-hole in the order.

Does this mean the offense is, once again, broken? Absolutely not. Tucker turned in several good at-bats and seemed to be dialing in on his timing more and more with each AB and Suzuki has shown he can ride the ups and downs to strong end-of-year numbers. It's mid-March and the Cubs' offense was tasked with two very tough matchups in Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki - take a breath, let the guys make some adjustments back in Arizona and let's get ready for March 27.

Justin Steele isn't the ace this team needs him to be

According to a new piece in The Athletic based on the opinions and evaluations of 20 in the industry with "expertise in scouting, player development and analytics," Justin Steele isn't an ace. He's a good pitcher, sure, but he falls well short of the group of the six starters who are legitimate aces in today's game.

I think that's fair. But I also think it would be a dramatic misstep to not appreciate what Steele has delivered over the last three years - numbers on par with Yankees' right-hander and former Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole. But given his final Cactus League start before departing for Japan was a disaster (3.2 IP, 7 ER, 10 H) and his performance against the Dodgers on Wednesday, there seems to be a good amount of concern regarding the left-hander.

The Kike Hernandez homer aside (an at-bat where a missed call that should be been strike three eventually allowed the long ball two pitches later), Steele wasn't particularly sharp, leaving a lot of pitches up in the zone, particularly his slider. Given his limited pitch assortment, when he's not executing with that breaker, it's going to be very hard to find success - period.

The good news is Steele can get back to Arizona and take some time with pitching coach Tommy Hottovy to work through this rough first regular season start and make adjustments to be ready when the domestic schedule kicks off late next week. The Cubs need him at his best, no doubt. Right now, though, there's hardly enough evidence to suggest he'll be anything but that in 2025.

There's too much riding on the success of Pete Crow-Armstrong

Pete Crow-Armstrong's speed and baserunning abilities make him nothing short of lethal when he's on base. The problem in the Tokyo Series? He was never on base.

PCA went 0-for-7 with three strikeouts in the two games against Los Angeles - and, when paired with the struggles at the heart of the order - made it near-impossible for the Cubs to generate any real offensive momentum. Their biggest scoring chances on Wednesday came when rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki completely lost the zone and walked batter after batter. Even then, Chicago came away with just one run and finished the game 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base.

Expectations are high for Crow-Armstrong after he closed the 2024 regular season with a flourish, looking like a completely different player at the dish over the final two months. If he can be that guy, while also delivering his elite baserunning and defense, the Cubs' ceiling is dramatically higher than if he's a glove-first speedster and nothing more.

Do I think he's going to be some elite run producer at the plate? Probably not. But I think he will be an above-average hitter and be a key piece of the puzzle for Counsell and the Cubs this season. If you think I'm jumping ship based on seven at-bats against the Dodgers, you've got another thing coming.