Quantifying Hope: Cubs Open Second Half with 12.1% Playoff Odds

I considered punting on this installment because the Cubs have only played three games since the last one, plus I’ve got about five minutes to hammer it out. Alas, the people demand an update of the playoff odds. Wait, no, these are the posts that always have randos wondering aloud why anyone cares about such things. Here goes nothing.

Even though they remain in last place, the Cubs managed to leapfrog the Reds in FanGraphs’ calculations after a hot stretch against the Orioles and Cardinals. Or semi-hot, anyway. Beats the hell out of their tepid play in May and June.

There’s really not much to add at this point, though I suspect we’ll have a lot more to chew on next week as the trade deadline looms much larger. As skeptical as I remain as to the Cubs’ potential to be buyers, a lot can happen in just a handful of games.