3 Takeaways After Cubs Spiral to NL Central's Worst With 10th Straight Loss

Make that 10 consecutive losses for the Chicago Cubs, who at the moment look like a shell of what they once were. They're tied for last place in the NL Central, and things look bleaker than ever.

The Cubs (29-26) dropped another game to the Pittsburgh Pirates (29-26) at PNC Park in a 12-1 rout that Chicago never had any control over. There are still two more games to go in the Pittsburgh series — including a date with Paul Skenes in Thursday's finale — and the Cubs are not showing many signs that things will turn around.

It seems the Cubs' task now will be to avoid equalling their franchise-worst 14-game losing streak, which was set by a 1997 squad that included Ryne Sandberg and Sammy Sosa.

Here are three things we learned from Tuesday's loss:

Not-So-Warm Welcome For Wicks

May 26, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jordan Wicks (36) delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Taking the ball on a day where your team needs to avoid losing 10 in a row is difficult regardless.

Try being Jordan Wicks, who got that assignment on top of it being his first MLB start since 2024. Wicks was thrust into a starting role out of pure necessity, coming back to the MLB roster after Edward Cabrera landed on the 15-day IL with a finger blister.

The Pirates' offense showed no mercy to the lefty as soon as he dug his toe into the mound. A four-pitch walk to leadoff man Konnor Griffin opened the floodgates for Pittsburgh, who hung five runs on Wicks rather quickly.

The Cubs did not respond after that. Wicks settled in for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings to throw three scoreless frames, but things got away from him in the 5th when Pittsburgh loaded the bases with no outs, forcing a pitching change for Craig Counsell.

Ryan Rolison closed out the inning, but not before the Pirates tacked on two more runs that were charged to Wicks. The final line for Wicks featured eight earned runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings of work.

Wicks made just eight big-league appearances for the Cubs in 2025, pitching to a 6.28 ERA over 14.1 innings. He started 10 games in 2024 and posted a 5.48 ERA.

New Day, Same Problems

May 26, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner (2) hits a single against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the seventh inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The story of the Cubs' losing streak has been the team's struggles to produce with runners in scoring position. On Tuesday, they had more than one opportunity to chip away before the game got out of hand, but they just could not.

That included a moment for Seiya Suzuki in the 2nd inning after back-to-back doubles from Alex Bregman and Ian Happ. With nobody out, Suzuki flew out to right and Happ was subsequently thrown out at third on the tag-up attempt — effectively killing any momentum the Cubs could get going early.

In the 6th, the Cubs already trailed by 7 runs, but a bases-loaded, one-out opportunity sparked an ounce of hope for a comeback. Still, back-to-back groundouts from Moises Ballesteros and Carson Kelly meant Chicago could not buy a run even if they paid a premium for it.

In the end, the Cubs left 11 more on base and went 1-for-13 with RISP. That brings the totals across the losing streak to 76 runners left on and 9-for-73 (.123) with RISP.

Concern Mounts For Swanson

Apr 5, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson (7) reacts after striking out in the seventh inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images

Dansby Swanson brings so much to the Cubs with his glove alone. And, right now, that's what is keeping him in the starting lineup.

Swanson went hitless in Tuesday's contest and is now slashing .183/.284/.337 (.621 OPS) on the season. That includes a 7-for-51 clip in his last 15 games, and he has the seventh-lowest batting average in MLB among qualified hitters.

Swanson is known to take a while to heat up. He's a career .244 hitter in the month of May, but that climbs to .268 in June. However, a .143/.195/.208 slash line this May means he's going through one of the worst offensive months of his 10-year career.

So what happens now for Swanson? Does he get a day or two to breathe? What do you do when your star shortstop looks this lost at the plate?

As things stand now, a mental breather for a day or two could work in his favor. It (sort of) worked for Ian Happ, who sat out a few games over the weekend and on Tuesday logged his first RBI since May 15. The Cubs are at the 'try anything and everything' stage of the skid, so there's really not much more to lose.

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