Cubs president Jed Hoyer says talented team will break out of slump, but needs to do so soon

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Cubs president Jed Hoyer isn’t panicking over his team’s protracted slump so far this season.

Chicago entered Friday’s game against San Francisco having won six of its past 24 games and at 33-30 overall for fourth in the NL Central.

That follows a 20-3 run that drove the Cubs to a 27-12 record on May 8 when they prevailed 7-1 at Texas to complete their second of two 10-game winning streaks this season.

Chicago is just the second team in major league history to have two 10-game winning streaks and a 10-game losing streak in the same season, along with the 2017 Dodgers.

“That Friday game in Texas, I thought we looked like World Series quality at-bats in that game and we played great,” Hoyer told reporters before Friday’s game at Wrigley Field. “We haven’t really played well since then.

“We need to get back to playing like that again. We need to do it fairly soon. We got way over .500. We cashed a lot of that in, unfortunately.”

Hoyer says the Cubs, with a deep starting lineup and strong defensive play, shouldn't be wallowing at the .250 winning percentage they've had since May 9.

“Intuitively you know this group of players is too good to have this last forever,” Hoyer said, “But it’s lasted longer than we all hoped."

Hoyer said he isn’t considering deals right now or looking ahead to the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

“The trade deadline is the furthest thing from my mind right now,” Hoyer said. “I think we just have to play better. That’s the priority.”

“Our position player group is deep and it’s pretty set and so the backbone of our team is our position players."

That group showed some spark on Thursday, when the Cubs came back with four runs in the ninth inning to top the Athletics 7-6. Chicago had seven hits in the ninth after just four hits in the first eight innings, with Pete Crow-Armstrong’s single driving in the winning run.

Gold Glove outfielders Crow-Armstrong and Ian Happ have been improving at the plate after slumps.

Crow-Armstrong entered Friday on a career-high nine-game hitting streak, with a .359 average, three homers and seven RBIs in the stretch. Happ came in batting .359 with four homers and 14 RBIs in his previous nine games, boosting his average to .237.

Other Cubs need to get rolling — none more so than two-time Gold Glove shortstop Dansby Swanson. His .184 average is third lowest among regulars in the majors.

And third baseman Alex Bregman has just one homer and five RBIs over his past 21 games entering Friday.

Hoyer believes Bregman's power will return.

“Yes, water finds its own level,” he said.

Chicago’s rotation has been hit hard by injuries. Right-hander Edward Cabrera returned from a blister on his right middle finger and started Friday.

But Cade Horton is out for the season because of elbow surgery, and Justin Steele has an uncertain timeline after he had a setback in his recovery from an elbow injury. Matthew Boyd is nearing a return after he had surgery for a meniscus tear in is left knee.

Shota Imanaga and Jameson Taillon have been allowing home runs recently, however.

“Candidly, some of these slumps actually give me some comfort,” Hoyer said. ”I know it sounds strange, but we have good, established players, and they’re going to get hot and they’re going to get to their numbers.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong watches after hitting the game-winning one-run single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics in Chicago, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong hits the game-winning one-run single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics in Chicago, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs' Dansby Swanson hits a one-run single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics in Chicago, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs' Ian Happ, right, runs after hitting a one-run double during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics in Chicago, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump confirmed he will attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday at Madison Square Garden, but said he doesn't have much sympathy for ordinary basketball fans who can't afford sky-high ticket prices to do the same.

“They can watch it on television,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday as he flew to Wisconsin for an event with farmers, after he was asked about tickets that have climbed as high as $8,000 each when the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs square off in Manhattan for the first time in the series.

"It’s sorta semi-free to watch it on television,” the president added. “That’s the way life goes.”

Trump further noted that if the Knicks weren't successful — as they haven't been most seasons since last advancing to the finals in 1994 — “you could go very easily.”

The president of course doesn't have to purchase tickets to attend major sporting events. Trump has been to a lot of them in his second term, including the 2025 Super Bowl, Daytona 500 and Ryder Cup.

But a centerpiece of his reelection campaign was a promise to tame inflation and bring down the price of groceries and other cost-of-living essentials. He has increasingly come under pressure to make good on that pledge as November midterm elections draw nearer — and as the war in Iran has caused gas prices to spike and global commodities markets to wobble, raising new fears about inflation and the strength of the U.S. economy.

A longtime Knicks fan, Trump said on Air Force One that he watched Game 1, which New York won 105-95 in San Antonio. “I think the Knicks have an amazing team the way they played," he said.

“Started off slow and it just got stronger and stronger," Trump said of Game 1. He pointed to Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns when asked to name his favorite player on the team.

Trump was also asked about Spurs star Victor Wembanyama having stood with his arms crossed for the national anthem before Game 1. That touched off a conservative firestorm online, even though Wembanyama is French, meaning his country's anthem wasn't being played.

Trump was complimentary of Wembanyama, saying that he “looks like he's gonna be a great player.” But he ducked a chance to weigh in on the national anthem controversy, suggesting he'd not seen Wembanyamba's crossed arms.

"Is that what he did? What did he mean by that?” Trump asked, before recommending that reporters seek the answer from Wembanyama himself.

Trump confirming his attendance for Game 3 follows NBA Commissioner Adam Silver saying on Wednesday that a presidential appearance at a finals game might be unifying in “our increasingly divided society.”

“It creates a sense of connectivity among people," Silver said. "It creates a sense of belonging, and I feel that every day.”

Weissert reported from Washington

President Donald Trump walks to his motorcade vehicle after talking with reporters Friday, June 5, 2026, at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Eau Claire, Wis. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

New York Knicks fans pose at a subway entrance in New York decorated in team colors as the Knicks play the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from Joint Base Andrews, Md., to Eau Claire, Wis., Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)