Cubs News: Bullpen ranked as best in MLB, rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong stays hot

Since July 31, the Chicago Cubs are undefeated. The main problem here is that before then, the team was 51-58, which means they still enter Saturday's matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals four games under .500 and 5 1/2 out of a playoff spot.

But progress is progress. Win Friday's victory, the Cubs climbed out of the cellar in the National League Central - and the fact that we're celebrating that tells you all you need to know about how this season has gone. A campaign that began with division title aspirations and a return to October baseball on the mind went off the rails in the first half, leaving Craig Counsell's club the narrowest of paths to pull it off here late in the season.

There have been plenty of bright spots, including a bullpen that has been nothing short of dominant over the last five weeks. So dominant, in fact, that it leads all of baseball in ERA during that span.

The Cubs made a major subtraction from that group at the trade deadline, sending Mark Leiter Jr. to the New York Yankees in exchange for a pair of prospects, but the hope is that some young arms can step in to fill the void left in his absence down the stretch.

Don't look now: PCA seems to be figuring things out offensively

Fans were ready to ship Pete Crow-Armstrong back to Iowa early on in the season when he was struggling at the plate, regularly looking overmatched against big-league pitching. But over his last seven games, the speedy outfielder has looked more comfortable and the numbers back it up.

In that stretch, PCA is slashing .304/.333/.435 with a trio of stolen bases, a double, triple and four runs scored. Now he's got a long way to go to chip away at the 54 OPS+ he carries into Saturday, but it's definitely progress for a guy who already grades out as one of, if not the best, defensive center fielders in the game.