NL Wild Card Race 2019: Breaking down the remaining contenders

2. Chicago Cubs (+2.0 games)

This has been the most trying year for the Chicago Cubs and Joe Maddon since their arrival as bona fide World Series contenders (and champions) in 2015. The Cubs have not led the NL Central since August 22 and have slipped four games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. They are only 46-42 dating back to the start of June and have not been able to reel off a hot streak to cement a playoff spot.

Maddon has actually drawn a fair amount of criticism for his managing of the team this year, but there might not be much he could have done differently. After all, he was not the one who signed Jason Heyward and Yu Darvish to massive contracts and shipped away tons of elite prospects for Jose Quintana and Aroldis Chapman. Theo Epstein and the front office haven’t given their manager much maneuverability this year and the bullpen has not been a strength at any point of the recent run.

Despite all of the shortcomings on the roster — Albert Almora, for example, has been an absolute zero at the top of the order and Craig Kimbrel’s performance at closer has been mostly unwatchable since his signing — the Cubs are clinging to a playoff spot.

The Cubs still have an outside shot at the division thanks to a total of seven games against the Cardinals. Outside of the home-and-home matchups left to play with St. Louis, the remainder of their games are against losing teams. That’s huge for the Cubs, who are now without Javy Baez until the postseason due to a broken thumb.