Chicago Cubs Top 2024 Moments Part 2 |
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
As we celebrate a new year, we at CubsHQ decided to rank the top moments for the Chicago Cubs in 2024. Here are the top five moments of the 2024 season for the Cubs: 5. Justin Steele Complete Game Justin Steele was fresh off of a top-4 Cy Young finish in 2023 and was injured on opening day in 2024. Once he returned from injury and worked back to a full workload, Steele re-emerged as one of the top left-handed starters in the sport. Then, in early July, he cashed in with his first career complete game, in dominating fashion over the LA Angels. The Wrigley faithful was rocking and with Steele on every pitched, and he emphatically slapped his glove when the final out was made to secure his first career complete game.
4. Michael Busch Walk-off Homer
In May, the Cubs started to struggle and lose their winning ways, but Michael Busch provided a jolt in the most electric fashion. In the bottom of the 9th inning, after the Cubs had lost a lead and rain had started to fall in Wrigleyville, Michael Busch turned on the first pitch he saw and blasted it halfway up the right-center field bleachers for a walk-off homer.
3. Mike Tauchman Walk-Off Homer
The White Sox were well-documented as the worst team in professional baseball history — but despite that, they still brought their energy against the Cubs. In early June, the Cubs were locked in a battle with their crosstown rival — and the game entered the bottom of the 9th inning tied at five runs apiece. Then Mike Tauchman, a Palatine native, launched an opposite-field homer to break the tie and win the game for the Cubs in walk-off fashion.
2. Shota dazzles in combined no-hitter
2024 saw a Cubs no-hitter at Wrigley Field for the first time in 52 years, in a rather unorthodox way. Shota Imanaga got the start and was excellent, fanning seven hitters across seven innings of no-hit ball. Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge handled the 8th and the 9th without a blemish to secure the no-hitter in a 12-0 drubbing of the Pirates.
1. Kyle Hendricks says farewell
In late September, the writing appeared to be on the wall that Kyle Hendrick’s time as a Chicago Cub was winding down. Hendricks had contributions as big as any in the Cubs 2016 World Series — and was the final Cub remaining from that 2016 team still on the big league roster. Unlike Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Javier Baez, who were traded, Hendricks was actually honored AS a Cub. He delivered a vintage performance, seven innings, two hits, two walks, and no runs — an almost identical stat line to his iconic 2016 game 6 of the NLCS performance.
While he appeared to have more left in the tank, the Cubs allowed Hendricks to receive a hearty ovation from the Wrigley crowd as he tipped his cap and enjoyed a well-deserved celebration for an undoubted Cubs legend.
Thanks for reading. Here’s to a bigger and better 2025.
Part 1 (10-5) of Top 10 Cubs moments of 2024
