Cubs get humiliated by William Contreras after Craig Counsell trolling in NLDS

The NLDS has been a disaster for the Chicago Cubs, as the first two games of the series have confirmed how large the gap is between where the Cubs are and where the Milwaukee Brewers are at the top of the National League Central. The benefit of playing 162 games during the regular season is that the truth is often told within those games, and the truth is the Cubs simply are not the definition of contention in their division, and unless something changes this offseason, they won't be in 2026.

At the center of the rivalry between the Cubs and the Brewers is the fact that the North Siders poached Craig Counsell away from Milwaukee two years ago. The impression from the Cubs was that they were getting one of the game's best managers while also weakening the main threat in their division. What has played out is that the Brewers have ascended toward being one of baseball's best teams since Counsell's departure.

Of course, the Brewers have taken Counsell's departure and used it as a rallying cry. Counsell is booed with every mound visit he makes when he is with the Cubs in Milwaukee, and in Monday's Game 2 loss, the Cubs' manager was the subject of a brutal troll job by William Contreras.

William Contreras rubs salt in Cubs' NLDS wounds with brutal Counsell jab

Given the frequency with which Cubs' pitchers have been giving up home runs to the Brewers this week, Counsell has been making many calls to the bullpen. Of course, one of the funnier, yet dreadful, moments of the Cubs' season was that July 29 game against the Brewers, when Counsell immediately turned to make a call to the bullpen after Contreras unleashed a swing that was a clear home run.

If you're annoyed with how the Brewers have been toying with the Cubs during the NLDS, the joke is on you. The Cubs are the inferior team, and if they were serious about constructing a legitimate contender in October, they would have ensured that their roster had no weaknesses ahead of their playoff. Instead, they tried to win on the margins, and the fact is, Jed Hoyer hasn't proved that he is capable of constructing a team capable of doing so. The Brewers are exploiting that and should be letting the Cubs know.