Cubs' youth, veterans team up in comeback win in Denver 

DENVER -- After getting set up at the first locker of his big league career, Cubs rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong began to make his way through the visitors’ clubhouse at Coors Field on Monday afternoon. Veteran catcher Yan Gomes rose from the chair at his stall and gave the newcomer a welcoming hug.

It was a snapshot into the way this Cubs’ roster has been constructed.

“I think you need youth and you also need experience,” said Crow-Armstrong, who then smirked. “But also, what do I know about how a big league club works, right? I'm just finding my way.”

The 5-4 comeback victory that followed those comments in Crow-Armstrong’s first career chat with media as a Major Leaguer put the Cubs’ blend of youth and experience on display. Rookie lefty Jordan Wicks provided another quality start, young slugger Christopher Morel launched a jaw-dropping blast and then a group of vets led the final push to the win column.

• Games remaining: at COL (2), at AZ (3), vs. PIT (3), vs. COL (3), at ATL (3), at MIL (3).

• Standings update: The Cubs (78-67) are three games behind the Brewers (80-63) for first place in the NL Central. The Cubs and Brewers have split the season series so far, so the tiebreaker has not yet been determined. Chicago sits in the second Wild Card spot, trailing the Phillies (79-65) by 1 1/2 games, and holding a two-game lead over the third-seeded D-backs (76-69). The Marlins, Reds and Giants are also in the hunt. The Cubs have won the tiebreaker over San Francisco, but lost it to Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Miami. They have gone 1-4 against Arizona with three games left in the season series.

The Cubs have a cast of younger players learning their way around the big leagues, a layer of veterans with playoff experience (plus World Series rings in multiple cases), and they are all teaming to try to get the North Siders back on the October stage. The recent two-year rebuild is paying dividends, along with the aggressive offseason of tenured free-agent additions.

Shortstop Dansby Swanson got the game’s winning rally rolling in the ninth with a leadoff double. Ian Happ followed with a walk. After they pulled off a double steal, Gomes put the Cubs ahead for good with a two-run single off Tyler Kinley. That effectively erased Colorado’s three-run rally off Jose Cuas in the seventh.

The Cubs’ veterans showed the kids how it was done.

“We have an amazing locker room,” said 10-year MLB vet Drew Smyly, who logged 1 2/3 innings in relief for the win. “We have such a good group of veterans that are easy to talk to and you can approach and hang out with them. The culture of rookie and veteran [being separated] are kind of in the past.”

It helps when the youth movement is playing such a key role.

• Wicks, who has helped shore up the rotation with Marcus Stroman on the injured list and Smyly now in the bullpen, limited Colorado to one run over six innings. Chicago’s first-round selection in the ‘21 Draft picked up a no-decision, but is 3-0 with a 1.99 ERA through four career starts.
• The 24-year-old Morel, who broke into the big leagues last season, drilled a fifth-inning pitch from lefty Kyle Freeland a projected 466 feet, per Statcast. That was the longest homer of Morel’s young career.
• Crow-Armstrong -- ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Cubs’ top prospect and the No. 12 prospect in baseball -- was summoned from Triple-A Iowa on Monday to bring his elite defense, plus speed and infectious energy to the ballclub for these last few weeks.
• Chicago’s roster also has an impressive young starter in Javier Assad, who has a 2.34 ERA in seven turns since moving into the rotation on a full-time basis. He will take the ball against Colorado on Tuesday.

“It definitely brings energy -- these guys coming up that are just happy to be here,” said Fulmer, who picked up the save in the victory. “[These are] guys that are hungry to go play and go show what their value is, what they're worth and that they belong in this league.

“And everybody that's come up has done a great job of just contributing when someone goes down.”

And they are getting to learn in the thick of a playoff chase, during which doing what it takes to win is the priority rather than pure development.

“It kind of makes me remember when I came to the big leagues in 2019,” said Cubs closer Adbert Alzolay. “We were still good at that time. Just having them here and showing them competitive baseball right away is really huge for this organization. I feel like these kids we have right now here are part of our future. And right now they can help us win.”

Cubs manager David Ross agreed.

“I think our organization feels healthier now than it has in a really long time,” Ross said. “It's nice that some of the bumps we went through as an organization and a team at the big league level has set us up to be able to … [have] a lot of young guys performing on a team that's got a chance to make the playoffs.”