The 1985 Chicago Cubs season was the 114th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 110th in the National League and the 70th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fourth in the National League East with a record of 77–84. The season had opened with high hopes as the Cubs had won the NL East title the year before. However, injuries were a major factor as four of the Cubs' starting pitchers were on the disabled list at the same time.
Offseason
November 28, 1984: Dennis Eckersley was signed as a free agent by the Chicago Cubs. December 4, 1984: Ron Hassey, Porfi Altamirano, Rich Bordi, and Henry Cotto were traded by the Chicago Cubs to the New York Yankees for Ray Fontenot and Brian Dayett. December 7, 1984: Steve Trout was signed as a free agent by the Cubs. January 3, 1985: Guy Hoffman was signed as a free agent by the Cubs.
Regular season
Ryne Sandberg became the first Cub since 1969–1970 to score 100 runs in two consecutive seasons.
On June 11, the Cubs had a record of 35-19, and held a four game lead over the New York Mets for the division. However, Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Trout, Scott Sanderson and Dennis Eckersley all were injured, and the Cubs went on a 13-game losing streak that effectively eliminated them from contention. The Cubs ultimately finished seven games below .500 after having been 16 games above .500. Shawon Dunston made his Major League debut. He struggled early on, so the Cubs sent him back to Iowa in early May. However, once he returned, it spelled the end for Larry Bowa, who was released in August and picked up by the New York Mets.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions
April 9, 1985: Jacob Brumfield was released by the Cubs. May 12, 1985: Dave Hostetler was purchased by the Chicago Cubs from the Montreal Expos.
Draft picks
The Cubs drafted pitcher Dave Masters with the twenty-fourth overall pick in the 1985 Draft. June 3, 1985: Doug Dascenzo was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 12th round of the 1985 amateur draft. Player signed June 12, 1985. June 3, 1985: Mark Grace was drafted by the Cubs in the 24th round of the 1985 amateur draft. Player signed August 29, 1985.
Roster
Game log
|- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" |1||April 9|| Pirates||2 – 1 ||Sutcliffe (1-0)||Rhoden (0-1)||Smith (1)|| 34,551 ||1-0|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" |2||April 11|| Pirates||4 – 1 ||Trout (1-0)||DeLeón (0-1)|||| 10,049 ||2-0|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" |3||April 12|| Expos||5 – 1 ||Smith (1-0)||Eckersley (0-1)|||| 14,337 ||2-1|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" |4||April 13|| Expos||8 – 3 ||Sanderson (1-0)||Rogers (0-2)|||| 32,212 ||3-1|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" |5||April 14|| Expos||4 – 2 ||Sutcliffe (2-0)||Palmer (0-1)|||| 31,512 ||4-1|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" |6||April 15|| Phillies||2 – 1 ||Trout (2-0)||K. Gross (0-1)||Smith (2)|| 8,347 ||5-1|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" |7||April 16|| Phillies||1 – 0 10||Eckersley (1-1)||Holland (0-1)|||| 11,937 ||6-1|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" |8||April 17|| Phillies||5 – 4 ||Frazier (1-0)||K. Gross (0-2)||Smith (3)|| 15,752 ||7-1|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" |9||April 19||@ Expos||5 – 3 ||Smith (2-0)||Sutcliffe (2-1)||Reardon (2)|| 30,930 ||7-2|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" |10||April 20||@ Expos||4 – 0 ||Gullickson (2-1)||Trout (2-1)||Reardon (3)|| 12,775 ||7-3|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" |11||April 21||@ Expos||4 – 0 ||Eckersley (2-1)||Palmer (0-2)|||| 13,506 ||8-3|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" |12||April 22||@ Pirates||5 – 3 ||McWilliams (1-1)||Ruthven (0-1)||Candelaria (3)|| 6,329 ||8-4|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" |13||April 23||@ Pirates||5 – 0 ||Sutcliffe (3-1)||Bielecki (1-1)|||| 9,387 ||9-4|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" |14||April 24||@ Pirates||5 – 2 ||Trout (3-1)||Rhoden (0-3)||Smith (4)|| 3,981 ||10-4|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" |15||April 26||@ Phillies||7 – 3 ||Eckersley (3-1)||Koosman (0-1)|||| 27,187 ||11-4|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" |16||April 27||@ Phillies||6 – 1 ||Rawley (3-0)||Sanderson (1-1)|||| 25,220 ||11-5|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" |17||April 28||@ Phillies||3 – 2 ||K. Gross (2-2)||Sutcliffe (3-2)||Andersen (2)|| 31,890 ||11-6|| |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" |18||April 30|| Giants||3 – 1 ||Trout (4-1)||Laskey (0-3)||Smith (5)|| 12,647 ||12-6|| |-