What's the actual panic level for Cubs fans with postseason fast approaching?

Let's not beat around the bush: The start of September has not been kind to the Chicago Cubs. The middle of their sandwich involved a relatively tasty series victory over the Miami Marlins, but the bookends were stale, rotten pieces of bread (2-5 record against the Milwaukee Brewers) that have all but eliminated them from the NL Central race.

Questionable analogies aside, it's clear that the same questions that haunted this team a year ago persist today. The rotation and bullpen simply don't look good enough to make a serious run in October, especially given the quality of the pitching staffs you'll find employed by other National League contenders.

So, where exactly do the Cubs stand heading into the final stretch of the regular season?

Cubs' fading pitching staff, brutal schedule has them on the ropes ahead of postseason

Getting manhandled by the Brewers certainly didn't help anyone's confidence level, especially since it cost them the season series (they wound up losing it 4-9). Since winning the Crosstown Classic in mid-August, the Cubs have actually lost or tied five of their past six series.

The good news is they have proven capable of beating good teams on a frequent basis. They swept the Dodgers earlier in August to win that season series, though that came during Los Angeles' bizarre post-deadline swoon. The Cubs also crushed the Phillies this year, though all seven of their games came before Philadelphia fired manager Rob Thomson in late April. Since then, they've gone 73-45 under Don Mattingly.

Insofar as you want to believe in this team's championship chances, we have to believe in this loaded position player corps. The Cubs are nearly lapping the field in fWAR from that group, which accounts for both their second-half leading offense and historic defense. Literally every hitter on the roster, save for Michael Busch and Carson Kelly, has been hot since the All-Star break, including an otherworldly effort from soon-to-be MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Unfortunately, the rebuilt pitching staff isn't holding up their end of the bargain. Since the deadline, the North Siders rank 25th in rotation ERA (4.90) and 28th in reliever fWAR (-0.7). You need pitching to win in the playoffs, and I'm afraid to say the Cubs probably just don't have enough of it. The Brewers exposed the disparity in arm talent over the past few weeks.

The schedule is going to get easier from here on out, but only slightly. Home series against the Pirates and Marlins (plus a road trip to face the Reds) will be nice palette cleansers, but six of their final 15 games will be against the Braves and Red Sox. That'll be a great chance for the Cubs to prove they can beat the best teams in baseball when the pressure is high, but it's also another opportunity for them to slip in the standings.

Verdict: 8/10 panic level.

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