The Cubs finished the “first half” (actually, first 59.3 percent) of the 2026 schedule on a high note, taking four fo six on a road trip to Baltimore and Cincinnati. That gives the Cubs a 27-23 road record, one of the better road marks in MLB to date. And of their 66 remaining games, 35 will be at Wrigley Field, where they are 27-19.

At the All-Star break I usually post a Cubs mid-season grades article. That will appear here tomorrow. In the interim, here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over the past week.

Bregman had just six hits on the week, but two of them were key home runs that helped the Cubs solidify leads in games they won against the Reds Saturday and Sunday. For the week he posted an OPS of .846, which included nine RBI. Even some of the outs he made on the trip were hard-hit balls.

A good second half from Bregman would be an enormous boost to the offense.

Here’s his home run Saturday, which wound up being the difference in the game [VIDEO].

Pete Crow-Armstrong has turned into an OBP machine

PCA had two games of the six on the trip in which he didn’t have a hit, and he still put up a really good slash line of .273/.429/.591 because he drew six walks. He also hit two home runs, scored six runs, stole a base and continued to play outstanding defense.

This catch ended the fifth inning on Saturday in Cincinnati [VIDEO].

For most, if not all, other teams, that ball likely falls in between three fielders and continues the inning. Instead PCA makes it look routine.

After the Cubs got swept by the Brewers in May at Wrigley Field, PCA was batting .225/.302/.357. Since then, in 46 games: .358/.465/.710 (63-for-176) with 10 doubles, two triples, 16 home runs, 33 RBI, 37 runs scored, 32 walks and 12 stolen bases. He was NL Player of the Month for June and so far in July (10 games): .353/.500/.676 (12-for-34) with two doubles, three home runs, seven RBI, four stolen bases, eight walks and nine runs scored. Keep that up and another monthly award could happen.

Lastly, his .386 season OBP ranks fifth in the National League. You did not have that on your Bingo card for this year.

The starting pitching was surprisingly good

As you know, the Cubs rotation has been ravaged by injury. And yet, in the six games on the road trip, Matthew Boyd, Shōta Imanaga, Colin Rea, Javier Assad and David Peterson combined for a 3.03 ERA and 1.286 WHIP in 32.2 innings, keeping the team in position to win in pretty much all of the games. And in one of the two games the team lost on the trip, the bullpen failed — in that 3-2 loss to the Orioles Thursday, Peterson threw five good innings and the Cubs had the lead entering the eighth.

No question, the rotation needs reinforcements. But if they can even pitch this well for an extended period, if the bullpen also can be reinforced and hold leads, perhaps another long winning streak can happen.

At the end of April Nico was batting .291/.370/.449 with four home runs and seven stolen bases in 31 games.

In 63 games since then he’s batting .202/.270/.263 with no home runs and seven steals. He does have a lot of doubles — he has 15 in that 63-game stretch and his 23 doubles are tied for fourth in the NL — but otherwise his offense has almost completely disappeared, and he enters the break on a skid of 0-for-14.

There’s really no one on this team who needs the break to reset more than Hoerner. Hopefully he comes out blazing when the season resumes.

Happ went 6-for-21 (.238) over the week with no extra-base hits, though he did have three walks for a .333 OBP.

He started the year looking like he might set a career high in home runs, but now he’s hit just one in his last 25 games dating to June 14, and over that span has a .565 OPS with 31 strikeouts.

As we all know, Happ is a notorious streak hitter. Coming out of the All-Star break would be a perfect time for him to go on a hot streak.

The Drew Pomeranz experiment might be short-lived

Pomeranz had a really good year for the Cubs in 2025, but they declined to re-sign him. Instead he went with the Angels and didn’t perform well there. They wound up releasing him and the Cubs signed him. There wasn’t much risk, as they’re only paying a pro-rated portion of the MLB minimum.

In four appearances, Pomeranz has an 8.31 ERA and two home runs allowed in 4.1 innings. If that doesn’t improve soon, I could see the Cubs letting him go when one of the currently injured relievers returns, or if the team can make a deal for a reliever.

Welcome back, Alex Bregman

Nico Hoerner continues in his long slump

Ian Happ’s slide is still going