Jacob Misiorowski shades Cubs while identifying Brewers biggest NL Central threat

The Milwaukee Brewers got an early start on their trade deadline shopping this week, adding Lance McCullers Jr. and Colton Gordon in a trade with the Houston Astros. The impression was the Brewers were trying to get ahead of the Chicago Cubs, who also have a need for pitching.

Conventional wisdom would point to the Cubs as being the biggest threat to the Brewers for the rest of the season. The Cubs are 12 games above .500 exiting the All-Star break, and trail Milwaukee by five games. It's hard to imagine, but if the Cubs get healthy and make the right moves at the trade deadline, there's hope they could catch the Brewers by the end of the season.

For that reason alone, it would seem obvious that the Cubs should be the first team mentioned if any Brewer were asked who they might be most concerned about. William Contreras certainly thinks so, but not Jacob Misiorowski.

Jacob Misiorowski's latest take should light fire under the Cubs

The Chicago Sun-Times' Steve Greenberg spent the All-Star break asking NL Central rivals on who pose the biggest threat to the Brewers for the rest of the season, and Misiorowski didn't exactly put the Cubs in the best of light.

“I mean, the Cubs are one of them, but I don’t think I’d say the biggest,” Misiorowski said. “I don’t think any team is the biggest. I think they’re all pretty equal. The Cardinals and Pirates are right there with them.”

For reference, the Cardinals are 50-45 on the season, and trail the Cubs by 3.5 games for second place in the division. The Pirates are 50-47, trailing the Cubs by 4.5 games, and 9.5 games out of first place.

This simply could be an instance of Misiorowski trying to say the right thing while paying respect to most of the teams in the NL Central (Sorry, Reds), but it does feel like he wanted to humble the Cubs with his take. The Brewers, even with their dominance in the division over the last few years, still have the Cubs rent free in their head.

Of course, the onus is also on the Cubs to prove they are, indeed, the biggest threat to Milwaukee. That certainly can be made possible with the right move at the deadline, but it also must include a better record against the Cardinals and Pirates this season. The Cubs are a combined 5-8 against Cardinals and Pirates this season. Regardless of anything else that happens, that record must improve during the final two months of the 2026 season.

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