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Look away Cardinals fans, the Cubs are legit World Series contenders

Hopefully this acts as a reverse-jinx!
Jul 29, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (4) celebrates after hitting a two-run home run against the St. Louis Cardinals in the tenth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images
Jul 29, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (4) celebrates after hitting a two-run home run against the St. Louis Cardinals in the tenth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Last year, I began to believe that Cubs superstar Pete Crow-Armstrong may actually win National League Most Valuable Player over Dodgers Shohei Ohtani, but then he fell apart in the second half. While I can't reverse-jinx Crow-Armstrong's MVP case this time, St. Louis Cardinals fans should hope my acknowledgement of the Cubs' talent will lead to them cratering this year.

The Cubs are on a tear right now, led by the soon-to-be named MVP of the National League, Crow-Armstrong, who is second in all of baseball in outs above average while slashing .282/.376/.573 with 38 home runs and 91 RBI to go along with 32 stolen bases. He's having a truly historic season, already posting an eye-popping 9.3 fWAR as we head into September. Even so, I think Chicago radio needs to stop saying he's going to be the best position player of our lifetime outside of Barry Bonds.

Crow-Armstrong is joined by one of the most well-rounded offenses in baseball, with big offseason acquisition Alex Bregman finally heating up and posting a 1.029 OPS over his last 30 games, and names like Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch, Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, Pedro Ramirez, Michael Conforto, Tyrone Taylor, and Carson Kelly all contributing at a high level.

Their defense as a team is truly insane, as Crow-Armstrong, Hoerner, Dansby Swanson, and more lead what is probably the best team defense in baseball this year. The only thing that really can hold them back at this point is their streakiness as a team or their pitching, which has experienced a number of injuries this year in both their rotation and bullpen.

Cardinals fans must hope the depth of the National League keeps the Cubs out of the World Series

Another thing playing in Cardinals fans' favor when it comes to making sure the Cubs don't go to the promised land is just how many teams in the National League could make a run. We all know about the Dodgers, who have an All-Star rotation and lineup that, when it's on, can compete with the Cubs. The Brewers have so much pitching and continue to show they can win at a high-level. And both the Braves and the Phillies have star talent to beat anyone.

Still, it's hard not to look at the Cubs right now and see them as a serious threat to win it all this year. They have the star power, depth, and momentum needed to make a run, so Cardinals fans need to hope they are peaking at the wrong time.

From a Cardinals' perspective, you never, ever want to see the Cubs winning, so this is just bad news all around so far, and having to deal with PCA being an MVP for the rest of time sounds miserable (although the Cardinals may have their own PCA coming in Trevor Condon). But since Crow-Armstrong winning the MVP is basically a guarantee at this point, Cardinals fans need to just hope the team itself falls apart in their quest for another World Series crown.

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