This is the ‘next great Cubs team’ Chicago has been waiting for

In a world without snubs, the Cubs’ entire middle of the order would be headed to the All-Star Game, much like how their four-man infield was voted in to start in 2016.

But in our reality, just Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong will be starting for the National League in Atlanta, while Seiya Suzuki, baseball’s RBI leader, and Michael Busch, a top-five hitter in the game by some metrics, will be watching on TV. Sunday’s starting pitcher, Matthew Boyd, was the only other Cubs player named to the team. He responded by striking out nine in five scoreless innings in Chicago’s 11-0 win over St. Louis on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

I can’t get worked up over All-Star snubs. Every year, there are great players who don’t make the game because of roster limits and the game’s representation rule (which I love, by the way). That’s life in the big leagues. What’s important is that all four are deserving, because when your 2-through-5 hitters should all be All-Stars, that means the Cubs are in a very good place as we head into the break next week.

Playing in the Midsummer Classic is great for national exposure — expect to see a lot of Crow-Armstrong — but for teams like the Cubs, it should only be a prelude to the playoffs. And that’s where the Cubs seem certain to be going.

After 90 games, they are 54-36, have a four-game lead on Milwaukee for first place in the NL Central, and a +126 run differential after winning two of three against the Cardinals. The Cubs outscored their rivals 28-11. They scored 11 runs twice in the series. On Friday, they hit eight homers. On Sunday, they hit one.

It’s hard to remember the pessimism we had about the Cubs coming into the season. Mostly, that collective attitude was about unspent money and missed opportunities. It seemed insane that the team came in with a lower payroll than the year before, and it’s still pretty crazy. The Cubs really could have signed Alex Bregman too.

With that in mind, the two losses to the Dodgers in the opening series in Japan just highlighted the seeming chasm between the franchises.

Three months later, we’re wondering what else the Cubs can do to make a serious run at those same Dodgers this October.

Sure, there are worries and concerns, potential holes that need to be addressed in the pitching staff and at third base, but you watch these guys hit (and run the bases) every night and you think this is one of the best Cubs teams of the last 20 years, 2016 excluded.

It didn’t happen by good fortune or alchemy. Cubs president Jed Hoyer came into the season without a contract, and now he’s set up for a big payday. Just look at how he acquired the four hitters we’re talking about.

He traded for Crow-Armstrong and Busch, pre-arbitration players earning $1.56 million combined, signed Suzuki to a free-agent deal he’s now living up to, and made a blockbuster bet on trading a top prospect in Cam Smith for Tucker, who is putting together an MVP-caliber season in his walk year. While the bottom third of the order has been contributing most of the season, the Cubs’ Fantastic Four (now playing in ballparks across the country) are not only each slugging .500, but Tucker is actually the laggard at .515 as his three teammates are each above .550.

They’ve combined to hit 83 home runs going into their final two series before the All-Star break. Suzuki’s 77 RBIs lead all big-league hitters, while he and Crow-Armstrong are in the top 10 in homers and top five in total bases, and Busch is fourth in slugging and fifth in OPS. Tucker has just been excellent in every facet of the game.

In Friday’s 11-3 win on the Fourth of July, Busch hit three homers, Crow-Armstrong two and Suzuki one. In Sunday’s drubbing of the Cardinals on national TV, those four were again in the middle of the action, accounting for seven hits and six RBIs as the Cubs scored in each of the first five innings.

Tucker drove in three with a two-run single in the second inning and a sacrifice fly in the Cubs’ five-run third. Suzuki knocked in two with a double in the third and a solo homer — his team-high 25th — in the fifth. Crow-Armstrong drove in Tucker with a single in the first inning. Busch had two hits, including his 15th double of the season.

Imagine being a pitcher and having to face these guys. It didn’t go so well for Erick Fedde, who couldn’t get out of the second inning, and the first two of four Cardinals relievers on Sunday. They had their hands full with the bottom third too. Nico Hoerner went 3-for-4 and was a homer shy of the cycle, and catcher Reese McGuire had a pair of hits.

Though it’s impossible not to think about what’s next — July is for dreaming and worrying about the trade deadline — it’s important to remind yourself of what’s happening now. Because this is the “next great Cubs team.”

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