Bullet point summary by AI
- Three MLB teams face critical pressure in June as the season transitions from sample size to must-win territory.
- Each team has seen playoff hopes waver dramatically, with light schedules offering narrow paths to redemption.
- The next few weeks will determine whether these franchises hold onto key assets or pivot toward rebuilding.
June is officially here, meaning it’s no longer early in the MLB season. Teams that are playing well might genuinely be good, while those struggling no longer have the excuse of a small sample size to explain their demise.
With the latter point in mind, the pressure is on these three teams to produce quickly, or else their playoff hopes could vanish earlier than anticipated.
3. Chicago Cubs
It looked as if the Chicago Cubs were sitting pretty when they won each of their first eight games in May, part of a 10-game winning streak overall. That run brought their record to 27-12, good for first place in the NL Central. But they ended the month with a 32-28 record, meaning they went 5-16 the rest of the way. The Cubs haven’t won a single series since they swept the Reds on May 7.
Chicago isn’t in a bad spot — they’re still four games over .500 — but the pressure is on them to turn it around because of how poorly they’re playing right now. I mean, the Cubs went from a team that was 15 games over .500 to one that’s now in fourth place in the NL Central and would miss the playoffs if the season ended today. That’d be an unacceptable result.
With a light schedule to begin June, the Cubs have a golden opportunity to claw their way back into the NL Central race, even with an unfortunate injury situation. Here’s hoping they don’t blow it.
2. New York Mets
As poorly as the Cubs have played lately, the New York Mets have been a mess virtually all season long. Even with their four-game winning streak to end May (and their solid record in the month overall), the Mets begin June with a 26-33 record, good for fourth place in the NL East and the fourth-worst record in the NL.
The division is pretty much out of reach with New York a whopping 13.5 games behind first-place Atlanta. But as bad as things have been, the Mets are only 5.5 games back of a Wild Card spot. There are a lot of teams they’d have to jump, but they have a shot here if they can have a good month.
A rough go of it in June could lead to action, and not the kind the Mets players or fan base wants. The Mets must win baseball games to avoid a massive trade deadline sell-off.
1. Detroit Tigers
No team is under more pressure than the Detroit Tigers, whose season could already be over as we speak. The Tigers were 18-18 when Tarik Skubal suffered his injury, and they ended May with a 22-38 record, the worst mark in the American League and tied for the worst in the Majors. The Tigers have gone 4-20 with Skubal on the IL.
Despite an inexplicably bad run, the Tigers, thanks to dismal American League, are only 7.0 games back of a Wild Card spot. The AL Central is probably out of reach, but a postseason berth, as unlikely as it might seem, isn’t fully out of the realm of possibility. A bad June, though, would all but end their postseason hopes, and result in Tigers fans’ worst nightmare coming true: a Skubal trade.
The only way in which the Tigers keep Skubal around past the deadline is if they play some of their best baseball in years and force their way back into the Wild Card hunt. Otherwise, it isn’t worth holding onto the upcoming free agent, knowing he’s likely to walk in the offseason anyway. If the Tigers want to keep Skubal in Detroit for a bit longer, it’d behoove them to step up immediately.
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