CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell refused to sugarcoat his team’s slow fade from the playoff picture, sending a message to the entire organization that changes in Wrigleyville need to happen fast. Counsell delivered that reality check the day after the Milwaukee Brewers clinched the division title, his low-key voice rising with a different edge and a new sense of urgency. Counsell leaving his hometown team to become the sport’s highest-paid manager was supposed to shift the balance of power in the National League Central, not usher in a season of wire-to-wire dominance by his former club.
Advertisement “There’s a big gap,” Counsell said Thursday. “They’re ahead of us by a lot. It’s a talented team.
On and off the field, that’s a talented team. There’s a big gap, and we got room to make up. There’s no question about it.
Frankly, that makes it daunting.” Counsell spoke in the Wrigley Field interview room where the pregame media briefings usually revolve around softball questions and happy talk. Counsell’s postgame sessions with reporters are almost always short and to the point — a recognition that it’s a long season and the manager rarely pops off in that setting.
At this point, though, there’s no hiding from the standings. The Brewers have spent every day in first place since the end of April — even after trading away Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes last winter — while the Cubs have struggled to gain traction above the .50.