A eulogy for the 2025 Chicago Cubs: a season filled with highs and lows

The journey of the 2025 Chicago Cubs has come to an end. After winning 92 games in the regular season and clawing through a first-round series win against the San Diego Padres, they succumbed to the rival Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS in five. It was an epic back-and-forth battle that saw the home crowds act as the 10th man for each club.

There's no way to sugarcoat it though, the loss in Game 5 was incredibly disappointing. The bats did not come through in the crucial moments in the winner-take-all game. Every two-out home run the Brewers hit was head-banging frustrating.

There are no consolation prizes in the playoffs and losing to a rival team is particularly tough to swallow. With that said, this postseason did give Cubs fans some great memories. The electricity at Wrigley Field felt different, as there was no 108-pound goat on the team’s back and the fans could turn the atmosphere hostile for the opponent with less nervous energy. Game 4 of the NLDS will go down as one of the best Chicago sports experiences anyone has seen here in a long time.

Time, distance from Game 5 loss will help Cubs fans appreciate 2025

For many, it will take time to digest the season. The ultimate goal was to win the World Series, and it did not happen. That’s the standard now. Over the first few months the offense was humming, and they were among the best teams in baseball with a big lead in the division. The second half saw the offense hit some hard slumps, and while they did not completely spiral record wise, the team had to grind through.

Overall, the team’s offensive numbers were good. Fifth in baseball in runs scored, sixth in slug and homers, and third in fWAR. As mentioned before though, the offense slumped hard when the likes of Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki, and Pete Crow-Armstrong fell off hard for an extended period. Tucker and Crow-Armstrong were All-Stars and MVP candidates early on, and they did end with some good stats, but compared to what they were doing before? A noticeable dip.

Tucker, especially, who was the big acquisition this offseason and has free agency looming, had seen quite the 180 in discourse. Going from the King of the North Side to struggling so bad he was getting booed at Wrigley was such a sad and frustrating storyline. Safe to say the injuries were a major factor in that, but it was still brutal to see. The hitless effort in Game 5 felt like a fitting (likely) end.

Much credit should go to the pitching staff, who despite having multiple notable injuries were able to keep the team in most of their games. There will need to be some improvements for next year, more velocity and whiffs would be ideal, but they did an overall good job. Plenty of arms to thank on that staff.

There are so many tangents that we can journey on, but we want to wrap this eulogy up.

This Cubs season was an overall very good one. There was a lot accomplished with plenty of fun that was had at the corner of Clark and Addison. It was their most accomplished season (factoring in postseason) since 2017. Seeing the passion back in October on the North Side was an amazing feeling. With that said, this team had some big flaws and it’s on this front office to address those this offseason.

Frustration and sadness are felt now, with even some concern on how things will be addressed this Winter. They built a good team, but not quite World Series good and they showed that. The expectations going into this postseason were not at the level they were in 2015-2018, but they did not get extinguished quickly and gave it a fight. Tons of things to ponder and question until Spring arrives and before we know it, activity in Mesa, Arizona will begin.

Until next season, thanks for the memories. Go Cubs