The 2018 Chicago Cubs season was the 147th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 143rd in the National League and the Cubs' 103rd season at Wrigley Field. The Cubs were managed by Joe Maddon, in his fourth year as Cubs manager, and played their home games at Wrigley Field as members of Major League Baseball's National League Central.
The Cubs began the season March 29 at the Miami Marlins and finished the season on September 30 against the St. Louis Cardinals. On September 26, the Cubs clinched a trip to the postseason for the fourth year in a row, marking the longest streak in franchise history. The Cubs finished the 162-game schedule 95–67, earning a tie with the Milwaukee Brewers for the division and the best record in the National League. They lost to the Brewers in a 163rd game to determine the Central Division champions, failing in their quest to win the division for a third consecutive year. Instead, they hosted the NLWC Game against the Colorado Rockies, but the Cubs lost 2–1 in 13 innings.
Previous season The Cubs finished the 2017 season 92–70 in first place in the Central Division, winning the division title for the second consecutive year. The Cubs defeated the Washington Nationals in the National League Division Series three games to two to advance to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the League Championship Series in a rematch of the previous year's series. In the best of seven NLCS, the Cubs lost to the Dodgers four games to one.
Television broadcasts The 2018 season was the second of the last for team broadcasts on long time FTA broadcaster WGN-TV, the 2018-19 offseason was when it was announced that effective Opening Day 2020, the Cubs will be moving to a brand new regional cable TV channel, making them the 4th team overall to have their own cable station, officially ending a 7-decade long presence there. WLS-TV, the team's secondary over the air broadcaster, will soon take over the free to air broadcasts of Cubs games from that year on.
Offseason
Wrigley Field renovations The fourth phase of the 1060 Project off-season improvements began after the end of the 2017 season. Construction was started under the seats behind home plate on the first of four premier luxury clubs to be located around the park. The players dugouts have been relocated further down the left and right field foul lines to accommodate two of the four new clubs. The final club, located in the upper level, is planned for the 2019 season. The Hotel Zachary, just across Clark Street, celebrated its opening along with the Cubs' home opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 9, 2018.
Transactions
October 2017 October 23Assistant hitting coach Eric Hinske signed with the Los Angeles Angels to be their hitting coach.October 26Did not renew the contracts of pitching coach Chris Bosio, hitting coach John Mallee, and third base coach Gary JonesOctober 26Named Chili Davis as hitting coach and Brian Butterfield as third base coach and promoted Andy Haines to assistant hitting coachOctober 26Claimed OF Jacob Hannemann off waivers from Seattle. Designated SS Mike Freeman for assignmentOctober 30Bench coach Dave Martinez was named manager of Washington. Source
November 2017 November 2Jake Arrieta, Alex Avila, Wade Davis, Brian Duensing, Jon Jay, John Lackey, Rene Rivera and Koji Uehara elected free agency.November 3Assigned SS Mike Freeman outright to Iowa (PCL). Claimed LHP Randy Rosario off waivers from Minnesota.November 6Claimed RHP Cory Mazzoni off waivers from San Diego. Selected the contract of RHP Matt Carasiti from Iowa (PCL). Assigned OF Leonys Martin outright to Iowa (PCL).November 21Named Jim Hickey pitching coach, Will Venable first base coach and Jim Benedict special assistant to baseball operations. Promoted first base coach Brandon Hyde to bench coach.November 21Selected the contracts of RHP Adbert Alzolay and INF David Bote from Tennessee (SL) and RHP Oscar De La Cruz from Myrtle Beach (Carolina). Announced OF Jacob Hannemann cleared waivers and assigned outright to Iowa (PCL). Source
December 2017 December 1RHP Héctor Rondón elected free agency.December 1C Taylor Davis elected free agency.December 7Signed free agent RHP Tyler Chatwood to a three-year, $38 million contract.December 12Signed free agent RHP Brandon Morrow to a two-year $21 million contract.December 12Signed free agent LHP Drew Smyly to a two-year $10 million contract.December 16Signed free agent RHP Steve Cishek to a two-year, $13 million contract. Source
January 2018 January 12Signed 3B Kris Bryant to a one-year, $10.85 million contract to avoid arbitration.January 12Signed SS Addison Russell to a one-year, $3.2 million contract to avoid arbitration.January 12Signed RHP Kyle Hendricks to a one-year, $4.175 million contract to avoid arbitration.January 12Signed LHP Justin Wilson to a one-year, $4.25 million contract to avoid arbitration.January 12Signed IF Tommy La Stella to a one-year, $950,000 contract to avoid arbitration.January 17Signed LHP Brian Duensing to a two-year, $7 million contract.
February 2018 February 10Signed RHP Yu Darvish to a six-year $126 million contract.February 15Signed free agent OF Kevin Moreno to a minor league contract.February 16Signed RHP Shae Simmons to a major league split contract. Placed LHP Drew Smyly on 60-day disabled list. Signed free agent RHP Raidel Orta to a minor league contract.February 17Signed free agent OF Josue Fernandez to a minor league contract. Signed free agent LHP Johan Lopez to a minor league contract.February 19Signed free agent OF Peter Bourjos to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.February 23Invited non-roster OF Charcer Burks to spring training. RHP Brad Markey assigned to Chicago Cubs. OF D.J. Wilson, IF Stephen Bruno, C Cael Brockmeyer, RHP James Norwood, RHP Zach Hedges, RHP Duary Torrez, OF Wynton Bernard, and RHP James Pugliese assigned to Chicago Cubs. Released RHP Williams Perez.February 25RHP Stephen Perakslis, C P. J. Higgins, 2B Vimael Machín, RHP Casey Bloomquist, 1B Yasiel Balaguert, and C Erick Castillo assigned to Chicago Cubs.February 26LHP Ryan Kellogg assigned to Chicago Cubs.February 27RF Jeffrey Baez and RHP Preston Morrison assigned to Chicago Cubs.
March 2018 March 41B Gioskar Amaya assigned to Chicago Cubs.March 82B Trent Giambrone assigned to Chicago Cubs.March 9SS Zack Short, 3B Jesse Hodges, SS Carlos Penalver, and C Tyler Pearson assigned to Chicago Cubs. Optioned Adbert Alzolay, Duane Underwood Jr., and Oscar De La Cruz to Tennessee Smokies.March 10IF Austin Upshaw, OF Eddy Martinez, RHP Jake Stinnett, OF Chris Pieters, IF Andruw Monasterio, and CF Trey Martin assigned to Chicago Cubs.March 13LF Kevonte Mitchell, RF Daniel Spingola, LF Roberto Caro, 3B Kevin Cornelius, C Tyler Alamo, and C Gustavo Polanco assigned to Chicago Cubs. Optioned RHP Jen-Ho Tseng, RHP Alec Mills, RHP Luke Farrell, LHP Darío Álvarez, 2B David Bote, RHP Cory Mazzoni, and LHP Rob Zastryzny to Iowa Cubs.March 15Released RHP Justin Grimm. OF Jonathan Sierra and SS Rafael Narea assigned to Chicago Cubs.March 16LHP Jordan Minch, RHP Scott Effross, and LHP Tommy Thorpe assigned to Chicago Cubs. Optioned OF Mark Zagunis and RHP Dillon Maples to Iowa Cubs.March 17SS Luis Vazquez assigned to Chicago Cubs.March 18CF Fernando Kelli, RHP David Berg, RHP Mario Meza, and C Jhonny Pereda assigned to Chicago Cubs.March 19C Henderson Perez and C Jonathan Soto assigned to Chicago Cubs.March 21LHP Wyatt Short assigned to Chicago Cubs. Seattle Mariners claimed LHP Darío Álvarez off waivers from Chicago Cubs.March 22RHP Jose Rosario and RHP Tommy Nance assigned to Chicago Cubs.March 23RHP Chad Hockin assigned to Chicago Cubs. Optioned LHP Randy Rosario to Iowa Cubs. Released OF Peter Bourjos.March 24C Tyler Payne assigned to Chicago Cubs. Announced C Victor Caratini will make opening day roster.March 27Los Angeles Dodgers claimed RHP Cory Mazzoni off waivers from Chicago Cubs.March 28Optioned RHP Shae Simmons to Iowa Cubs. Source
Regular season
Game log
|-style=background:#cfc | 1 || March 29 || @ Marlins ||8–4 || Cishek (1–0) || Ureña (0–1) || — || 32,151 || 1–0 || W1 |-style=background:#fbb | 2 || March 30 || @ Marlins ||1–2 (17) || Despaigne (1–0) || Butler (0–1) || — || 12,034 || 1–1 || L1 |-style=background:#cfc | 3 || March 31 || @ Marlins ||10–6 (10) || Strop (1–0) || Ziegler (0–1) || — || 13,422 || 2–1 || W1
|-style=background:#fbb | 4 || April 1 || @ Marlins||0–6 || Peters (1–0) || Quintana (0–1) || — || 10,248 || 2–2 ||L1 |-style=background:#fbb | 5 || April 2 || @ Reds ||0–1 || Mahle (1–0) || Chatwood (0–1) || Iglesias (1) || 18,693 || 2–3 ||L2 |-style=background:#bbb | — || April 3 || @ Reds ||colspan="8"|Postponed (rain) (Makeup date: May 19) |-style=background:#cfc | 6 || April 5 || @ Brewers || 8–0 || Lester (1–0) || Suter (1–1) || — || 24,310 || 3–3 ||W1 |-style=background:#fbb | 7 || April 6 ||@ Brewers || 4–5 || Albers (1–0) || Montgomery (0–1) || — || 37,758 || 3–4 || L1 |-style=background:#cfc | 8 || April 7 || @ Brewers || 5–2 || Strop (2–0) || Barnes (0–1) || Morrow (1) || 43,331 || 4–4 || W1 |-style=background:#cfc | 9 || April 8 || @ Brewers || 3–0 || Quintana (1–1) || Anderson (0–1) || Morrow (2) || 39,282 || 5–4 || W2 |-style=background:#bbb | — || April 9 || Pirates ||colspan="8"|Postponed (snow) (Makeup date: April 10) |-style=background:#fbb | 10 || April 10 || Pirates || 5–8 || Nova (1–1) || Chatwood (0–2) || Vázquez (4) || 40,144 || 5–5 || L1 |-style=background:#cfc | 11 || April 11 || Pirates || 13–5 || Duensing (0–1) || Glasnow (0–1) || — || 35,596 || 6–5 || W1 |-style=background:#fbb | 12 || April 12 || Pirates || 1–6 || Williams (3–0) || Hendricks (0–1) || — || 29,949 || 6–6 || L1 |-style=background:#fbb | 13 || April 13 || Braves || 0–4 || Sánchez (1–0) || Darvish (0–1) || — || 29,775 || 6–7 || L2 |-style=background:#cfc | 14 || April 14 || Braves || 14–10 || Wilson (1–0) || Ramírez (0–1) || — || 36,788 || 7–7 || W1 |-style=background:#bbb | — || April 15 || Braves ||colspan="8"|Postponed (rain) (Makeup date: May 14) |-style=background:#bbb | — || April 16 || Cardinals ||colspan="8"|Postponed (snow) (Makeup date: July 21) |-style=background:#fbb | 15 || April 17 || Cardinals || 3–5 || Wainwright (1–2) || Chatwood (0–3) || Norris (4) || 35,103 || 7–8 || L1 |-style=background:#bbb | — || April 18 || Cardinals ||colspan="8"|Postponed (rain/cold) (Makeup date: April 19) |-style=background:#cfc | 16 || April 19 || Cardinals || 8–5 || Lester (2–0) || Weaver (2–1) || Morrow (3) ||29,648|| 8–8 || W1 |-style=background:#cfc | 17 || April 20 || @ Rockies || 16–5 || Hendricks (1–1) || Gray (1–4) || — || 35,290 || 9–8 || W2 |-style=background:#fbb | 18 || April 21 || @ Rockies || 2–5 || Anderson (1–0) || Darvish (0–2) || Davis (9) || 40,107 || 9–9 || L1 |-style=background:#cfc | 19 || April 22 || @ Rockies || 9–7 || Quintana (2–1) || Marquez (1–2) || Morrow (4) || 48,137 || 10–9 || W1 |-style=background:#cfc | 20 || April 24 || @ Indians || 10–3 || Chatwood (1–3) || Tomlin (0–3) || — || 16,408 || 11–9 || W2 |-style=background:#fbb | 21 || April 25 || @ Indians || 1–4 || Bauer (2–1) || Lester (2–1) || Allen (5) || 15,712 || 11–10 || L1 |-style=background:#cfc | 22 || April 26 || Brewers || 1–0 || Hendricks (2–1) || Anderson (2–2) || Morrow (5) || 37,197 || 12–10 || W1 |-style=background:#cfc | 23 || April 27 || Brewers || 3–2 || Strop (3–0) || Jennings (2–1) || Morrow (6) || 35,579 || 13–10 || W2 |-style=background:#cfc | 24 || April 28 || Brewers || 3–0 || Quintana (3–1) || Guerra (2–1) || — || 40,147 || 14–10 || W3 |-style=background:#cfc | 25 || April 29 || Brewers ||2–0||Chatwood (2–3)|| Davies (2–3) | Morrow (7) ||40,895||15–10||W4 |-style=background:#cfc | 26 || April 30 || Rockies || 3–2 ||Farrell (1–0) || Freeland (1–4) || Cishek (1) || 35,922 || 16–10 || W5
|-style=background:#fbb | 27 || May 1 || Rockies || 1–3 || Gray (3–4) || Hendricks (2–2) || Davis (11) || 40,077 || 16–11 || L1