Cubs' confidence to end miserable slump clashes with Jed Hoyer reality that never fails

Nearly one week ago, Chicago Cubs fans rolled their eyes when Ian Happ talked about the team not being concerned with their recent slump. That was when the Cubs lost their fourth consecutive game and we're on the verge of being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers. Since then, the Cubs' losing streak has reached nine games and Happ's defiance last week sounds more and more tone deaf with each passing day.

The Cubs talk like a team that has fulfilled expectations regularly, but the reality of the situation is that has never been the case. The Cubs have only reached the playoffs once since Jed Hoyer has taken over as the President of Baseball Operations, and even then, they were eliminated by the Brewers in the NLDS.

Cubs are failing to realize what fans already know

Through the first two months of the 2026 season, it seem that the Brewers are on the way to winning the National League Central crown for the third consecutive season. And, the three-game series played between the two teams last week that a gap remains between where the Brewers are at the top of the division and where the Cubs are.

That is the reality that has faced the Cubs for much of the past decade. The Brewers are a better organization, from top to bottom, than the Cubs.

That realization is why the Cubs' recent losing ways has been sobering. The two 10-game winning streaks they had earlier this season are masking a team that has been stuck in a lull since Opening Day.

Beyond that, it's once again highlighted the flaw within Jed Hoyer's approach to roster construction. Hoyer has been obsessed with adding players with high floors, but also capped ceilings.

There can be an argument that there are only so many Shohei Ohtani's, Aaron Judge's, and Kyle Schwarber's to go around, but it ignores what happens when the roster gets older. The floor of consistency from the players with high floors gets lower. The Cubs are finding that out with Dansby Swanson, and could already be finding that with Alex Bregman.

That becomes especially problematic when the gambles the Cubs made in the offseason--letting Kyle Tucker walk, cashing in on Pete Crow-Armstrong's potential ceiling, and Moises Ballesteros as the team's DH--are failing. Consistency is nice, but only when there are sound decisions being made at every level of the organization. The Brewers have unlocked that success and it remains to be seen if the Cubs can. Especially when Hoyer doesn't want to pay a premium for superstar players.

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