Chicago Cubs Grade Out as One of MLB's Best at Season's Halfway Point

The Chicago Cubs are officially 81 games into the season, and they are leading the National League Central Division.

The Cubs are coming off a four-game series split against the St. Louis Cardinals, and they will now head to Houston for three games against a great Astros team to finish out the week.

Chicago go off to a hot start, but it is starting to look like the NL Central will come down to the last few days of the season. Still, Chicago is in a good position to make some noise this summer, and they can not be mad at where they are at the halfway point of 2025.

With the 81st game being played on Thursday, below are the Cubs' team grades at the midway point of the year.

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Offense - A

It is hard to point out the flaws of Chicago's offense. The Cubs have been at the top of the league in most offensive categories all year.

As a team, Chicago is fourth in the MLB in batting average, fourth in OPS, seventh in walks drawn, third in home runs, and second in runs scored. The lineup is producing from top to bottom, and there do not seem to be any holes they have to fill.

Looking at the season as a whole right now, the Cubs offense deserves an easy A.

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Rotation Grade - C+

If the halfway point of the season was a few weeks ago, this grade might be a little bit higher. However, the Cubs have struggled with their starting pitching lately, and it has hurt the team.

The Cubs have thrown two straight shutouts, but their June ERA still sits at a high 4.61. None of the starting pitchers have been able to miss barrels, either. The starters have allowed 14 home runs in the last eight games.

With these recent struggles, the Cubs rotation now has a 4.21 ERA, which puts them in the bottom-10 of the MLB. Additionally, Chicago ranks near the bottom in home runs allowed, strikeout percentage and opponent batting average.

There are some rumors of the Cubs trading for a starting pitcher before the trade deadline, and it is nice for them to have Shota Imanaga back. But, the starting pitching has been the weakest part of the team.

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Bullpen grade - A-

The bullpen might be the most surprising part of the team this year. They have been the backbone of the pitching staff, and there are several pitchers performing better than expected. On the season, the Cubs' bullpen owns a 3.38 ERA, which ranks sixth in the MLB. Chicago's relievers have been able to come into games and get out of jams, while giving the offense a chance to win.

Drew Pomeranz has yet to allow an earned run this season in his 19.2 innings, while Chris Flexen, Caleb Thielbar, Brad Keller, and Daniel Palencia have each allowed eight earned runs or less this year. Palencia has turned into a very reliable closer for the Northsiders.

The bullpen has been great, and the A- grade at the midway point of 2025 is well deserved.

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Overcoming Injuries - B

The Cubs have been hit by the injury bug a bit this season. Miguel Amaya has been on the IL for a while, Justin Steele is out for the season, Shota Imanaga missed some time, Ian Happ had a short stint, Porter Hodge returned recently and Javier Assad has yet to throw an inning. There has been even more than that, but these have been the most notable.

Chicago has had to overcome those injuries, and the team is doing an alright job at doing so. Still, there has been some struggles. When Imanaga was on the injured list, the Cubs really struggled to fill his spot in the rotation. Not having Steele has hurt the team, and it seems like an injury to any bullpen pitcher might be detrimental.

Point being, the Cubs struggle to overcome injuries on the mound.

The lineup is a different story, though. There have not been many injuries, but they have been able to replace Amaya efficiently with Reese McGuire. Along with that, Happ's injury did not hurt the team all that much, either.

The hitters carried this grade, but a B is very fair.

Overall grade - A

It is hard to give a bad grade to a team that has the third-best record in the MLB. At 48-33, the Cubs are 2.5 games back from having the best record in the MLB, and in the National League. The second-best record would still give them a first round bye in the playoffs, and there is nothing wrong with that.

The only concern is Chicago is 26-27 against teams over .500. That is something they will have to clean up as the season continues. Every team in the playoffs will be over .500, and there are still plenty of games left this year against the Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds -- all teams with a winning record.

Despite that, the Cubs deserve an A for how their season is going up to this point.

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