The Chicago Cubs went 71-91 in 2021, a .438 winning percentage — 24th of 30 record in baseball. They scored 705 runs and allowed 839, a run differential of -134. The offence ranked 21st of 30 in MLB for runs scored, while their 4.77 staff ERA was 26th of 30. Their 97 team wRC+ was 3% below league average — 18th of 30 in MLB. Kris Bryant led the position players at 3.7 WAR, and Craig Kimbrel the rotation at a 2.26 ERA.
The 2021 season
Month by month, the streaks, and the record in the games that are argued about.
They finished 4th in the NL Central, 24 games back. They spent 25 of 186 days in first place, led by as many as 1.5 games on June 2 and were as far as 27 games back on September 26. Their best month was May at 19-8, their worst August at 7-20. The longest runs were a 7-game winning streak from August 31 to September 6 and a 12-game losing streak from August 5 to August 16. They were 39-42 at home and 32-49 on the road, 24-27 in one-run games and 31-60 against clubs that finished .500 or better. The most lopsided win was 15-2 against the Brewers on April 23; the heaviest defeat, 17-4 against the Brewers on August 12.
Record by month. March games count toward April, October’s toward September.
Month
W
L
Pct
RS
RA
Diff
March/April
11
15
.423
114
128
-14
May
19
8
.704
131
85
+46
June
12
16
.429
97
131
-34
July
9
16
.360
104
132
-28
August
7
20
.259
116
193
-77
Sept/Oct
13
16
.448
143
170
-27
Splits. Extra innings are blank for a season whose games predate the innings count.
Games
W-L
Pct
Home
39-42
.481
Road
32-49
.395
One-run games
24-27
.471
Extra innings
6-7
.462
Within the division
35-41
.461
Against .500+ clubs
31-60
.341
Decided by 5+ runs
18-31
.367
Last 10
4-6
.400
National League Central standings, 2021
Final standings. The division page has the rest of its season.
National League Central, 2021. Games back of the best record in the division.
The players whose season belongs to this club, by position and then by dbWAR. A player traded mid-season is listed with the club he played most of his games for, so a deadline arrival may appear on his other club’s page instead.
Each rectangle is a player, sized by his share of the team's hits; darker means a larger share. Top 30 contributors. Select a different statistic above, or click a player for his page.
Day and night divide the home schedule, and so do weekend and weekday. The road line is a different question.
Split
Games
Avg
Med
Low
High
All home
81
24,431
26,963
10,137
40,077
Night
36
24,461
26,412
10,137
39,412
Day
45
24,407
27,289
10,295
40,077
Weekend
41
26,696
30,155
10,343
40,077
Weekday
40
22,110
24,931
10,137
37,165
On the road
81
22,637
18,709
5,660
52,175
Through the season
Average home crowd by month.
Month
Games
Average
Apr
15
10,319
May
14
14,213
Jun
10
33,025
Jul
13
32,812
Aug
13
31,462
Sep
16
28,709
By season
Announced gate — tickets distributed, which is the figure every reference publishes and is not the same as people through the turnstile. A game the feed reports no gate for is left out rather than counted as empty. Seasons before attendance was carried into the lake are absent from the trend rather than shown as zero.
Game time
First pitch to final out across 161 completed games, 2021.
Regulation
3:13
148 games
All games
3:16
Extra innings
3:53
13 of them
Longest
4:27
2021-08-06, 10 inn
Shortest
2:09
2021-08-25
By situation
Regulation and extra innings divide the season, and so do home and road. Day and night overlap both.
Split
Games
Avg
Med
Fastest
Longest
All
161
3:16
3:12
2:09
4:27
Regulation
148
3:13
3:09
2:09
4:14
Extra innings
13
3:53
3:55
2:49
4:27
Home
81
3:17
3:12
2:09
4:27
Road
80
3:15
3:10
2:28
4:14
Day
70
3:15
3:10
2:09
4:27
Night
91
3:17
3:12
2:28
4:23
Through the season
Average completed game by month.
Month
Games
Average
Apr
15
3:25
May
14
3:15
Jun
10
3:03
Jul
13
3:26
Aug
13
3:14
Sep
16
3:17
By season
Regulation games only, in minutes. 193 minutes this season.
Elapsed time from first pitch to final out. The feed does not itemise delays, so a rain delay is inside these numbers with no way to subtract it. Games called early are excluded — five innings in ninety-three minutes is not a short game — but they still count in attendance, because the crowd turned up.
Record versus run differential
Chicago Cubs are 71-91, a .438 win rate, while their -134 run differential implies .421. That is essentially in line — the record reflects the run scoring.
