Cubs manager Craig Counsell developing a surprising new habit in June

One of the things that stands out about Chicago Cubs skipper Craig Counsell is that he tends to be pretty even-keeled during the games. He’s not someone who will blow his top ala Lou Pinella. He also doesn’t get exuberant often when the team wins, so his recent streak of getting tossed from ballgames sticks out like a sore thumb.

Of course, it doesn’t help that Major League Baseball's umpires seem to have developed even more of a hair trigger, especially when it comes to the Cubs.

On Monday night, Counsell achieved a rare feat for him. After going the first few months of the season to see every inning of every Chicago Cubs game, Counsell was ejected for the second consecutive night. 

Cubs' manager Craig Counsell has been ejected 2 times this week after being tossed just 3 times all of last season

On Sunday night, his first ejection of the season, he was kicked out of the game when he came to second baseman Nico Hoerner’s defense after he, too, was booted. Hoerner was kicked out after telling the home plate umpire the ump was “having a bad day.” It was a fairly benign comment in a world where players are known to scream obscenities on the regular.

Counsell was kicked out shortly after he came to Hoerner’s defense, essentially for pointing out how benign the comments were. Monday night didn’t appear to be a situation where the Cubs manager went ballistic by any means either.

In fact, a video of the event, in which Counsell asked the home plate umpire to discuss a call with the rest of the crew, shows the Cubs skipper being ejected almost immediately after he reached home plate. It wasn’t until he got kicked out that he seemed to lose his temper.

It’s been clear in the last couple of games that Cubs players, coaches, and, yes, their manager have been showing their frustration over less-than-stellar officiating a bit more. That likely explains why the umpires have been demonstrating shorter fuses as well.

Still, Counsell, who has been pretty consistent in how and when he gets booted from a game, being ejected two days in a row is noteworthy—typically racking up anywhere between two and five ejections a season, his the Chicago Cubs manager going for a career-high in 2025?