The 2019 Chicago Cubs will be remembered for a September swoon that dropped them from contention and sealed Joe Maddon’s fate. It was a weird season that feels even weirder by putting “former Cubs manager” ahead of Maddon’s name. It’s possible no measure of success would have changed things in that regard, but the Pythagorean theorem says the Cubs should have been better.
The Cubs’ Pythagorean record of 91-71 — based on a +106 run differential — was almost good enough for first place in the division. Going into the last game of the season, the Cubs actually had a better expected record than the St.