Cubs at 81-62 feel 'sky's the limit' heading into October

The Chicago Cubs are not the best team in their division. They are not even the best team in their city. But after a 7-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night at Chase Field, they are carrying the kind of belief that tends to matter most when October arrives.

Per Yahoo Sports, the Cubs handled the Diamondbacks in front of a crowd that skewed heavily toward Chicago fans, and the mood in the clubhouse afterward reflected something beyond a single win. Veteran outfielder Michael Conforto put it plainly, per Yahoo Sports: the Cubs hold a genuine belief that they can win the whole thing, and Conforto noted that such conviction is not especially common around the league.

What happened

Yahoo Sports reports that the Cubs won 7-0 in Phoenix on Monday, with Conforto going 3-for-3 with a double, a home run, and two RBI. The performance was representative of the role Conforto has carved out in Chicago — a part-time contributor who has become, per Yahoo Sports, an integral part of the team's success.

Conforto's path to this moment is worth noting. The Los Angeles Dodgers moved on from him this past winter when they replaced him with Kyle Tucker. He subsequently signed a minor-league contract with the Cubs in February for $2 million. A minor-league deal, under general league mechanics, does not place a player on the 40-man roster and often includes an opt-out provision — it is the kind of arrangement that can look like a footnote in February and a chapter by August. For Conforto, it has become the latter.

Why it matters

The Cubs' confidence, per Yahoo Sports, extends to World Series ambitions — a declaration that carries more operational weight when the team making it sits atop the wild-card standings with a meaningful cushion. Believing you can win the whole thing is one thing; being positioned to actually get there is another, and the Cubs currently have both.

The wild-card format means that even a team sitting 7 games back in its division can reach the postseason and advance. The Cubs have built their case not as division favorites but as a club that has earned the right to be dangerous in a short series — which is, as Conforto suggested to Yahoo Sports, precisely how they see themselves.

The numbers

The Cubs enter Tuesday at 81-62 (.566), holding 2nd place in the NL Central, 7 games back of the division leader. Their wild-card standing is more comfortable: ranked 1st, with a +6.0 cushion relative to the cut line. They arrive at Tuesday's game riding a three-game winning streak.

Where the club stands

That +6.0 margin over the wild-card cut line represents a meaningful buffer as the calendar turns toward September, when rosters expand under general league rules from 26 to 28 players — a shift that rewards clubs with organizational depth and gives managers more flexibility in the late innings. The Cubs' streak of three consecutive wins suggests they are not merely holding their position but pressing it.

The schedule ahead does not offer much rest. Tuesday brings another game at Chase Field, with Clay Holmes the probable starter for Chicago against Brandon Pfaadt for Arizona. Wednesday closes the Phoenix series with Matthew Boyd taking the ball for the Cubs opposite Eduardo Rodriguez. The club then travels home to Wrigley Field on Friday to open a series against the Cincinnati Reds, with David Peterson lined up against Rhett Lowder.

Three games in the desert followed by a return to Wrigley — it is the kind of week that will either deepen the cushion or invite the teams behind Chicago to start doing arithmetic.

What we don't know yet

Yahoo Sports reports the Cubs' confidence and their current standing, but the piece does not detail the full roster construction heading into the final stretch, the health of the pitching staff, or how the teams currently chasing the wild-card spots are positioned. The gap between the Cubs and the cut line is +6.0 as of Tuesday, but what that looks like in three weeks depends on variables the report does not address.

Conforto's role is described as part-time, per Yahoo Sports, but the specifics of how that usage evolves as the Cubs approach October — whether it expands, stays fixed, or shifts based on matchups — remains an open question.

What to watch

The Diamondbacks series is the immediate test. Arizona is a team that has shown it can be dangerous at Chase Field, and back-to-back games there give the Cubs a chance to either extend their streak or absorb a reminder that the wild-card lead requires maintenance.

The Holmes and Boyd starts on Tuesday and Wednesday will offer a read on the depth of Chicago's rotation heading into the final month. And when the Cubs return to Wrigley on Friday, the home crowd will get its own look at a team that, per Yahoo Sports, has decided the sky's the limit — a phrase that tends to sound either prophetic or premature depending entirely on what happens next.

Conforto, for his part, has already answered one version of that question. The Dodgers moved on. He signed a $2 million minor-league deal. He went 3-for-3 on Monday night with a double and a home run. The Cubs are 81-62 and believe they can win the World Series. Some footnotes write themselves into chapters after all.