The Chicago Cubs made Jed Hoyer look smart on Tuesday night

The Chicago Cubs took a must-win game from the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night. This came by a final score of 20-9. Yes, you read that right. They defeated the team leading the division by 11 runs.

Why was a game on August 1st so important? Well, it has everything to do with the trade deadline and the decisions that were made by Jed Hoyer and his staff. They saved themselves with this win.

The Cubs decided to keep guys like Cody Bellinger and Marcus Stroman when they could have gotten great returns for them. They also decided to be buyers by adding other players.

You don’t get a guy like Jeimer Candelario unless you believe you are going to have a chance to win down the stretch. It was risky to play the role of a buyer for the Cubs and now we’ll see if it pays off.

The Chicago Cubs really needed to win to make Jed Hoyer look smart.

They entered this game 5.0 games back of the NL Central. Losing and going down 6.0 games would have been very bad. However, they are now 4.0 back after the win. They are still in third place behind the Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Cubs also trail in the Wild Card race by 3.5 games. That is very doable for a team like the Cubs. With the talent that they have on their roster, they can win some games.

This series between the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds is now at a 1-1 split. The rubber match will either get the Cubs to within 3.0 games of the division lead or push them back down to 5.0 games with the Atlanta Braves coming to town.

Speaking of the Atlanta Braves, they are the only super-elite team in the NL. The Los Angeles Dodgers are close but they have some injury issues. That means the pennant in the National League can be wide open which is why the Cubs should be focused on trying to win.

All of these games are very important for the Cubs at this stage. They need to win a lot of them if they want to remain in the race. With the decisions they’ve made regarding the trade deadline, it is big for the franchise that they at least have a good showing.

At a minimum, they need to finish strong so that folks will believe in them coming into 2024. Free agents might think of them as a great destination after a season like this if it ends with a little bit of hope.

They need to have more performances like this one against the Reds. 20 runs isn’t always necessary but winning big games when the lights are the brightest is key.