Earlier this week, the Chicago Cubs clinched their first playoff berth since 2020.
The outpouring of joy and relief seen in the locker room celebrations at PNC Park were the perfect antidote to a five-year period punctuated by pain, frustration and, at times, downright bafflement.
While to some it may have seemed premature, given that the Cubs haven’t even locked down their Wild Card seed yet, from a fan’s perspective, it was good to see.
We have, after all, been subjected to the great fire sale of 2021 (where Jed Hoyer traded away our World Series-winning heroes), the near-miss of 2023 (where the wheels fell off the playoff-bound Cubs during a torrid September stretch) and a 2024 campaign that saw the team disappear for the entirety of May and June.
On top of that, it’s important to remember that the Cubs last postseason appearance came during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, where they – embarrassingly, I might add – lost a three-game series to the Miami Marlins at Wrigley Field.
Before that, they failed to make the playoffs in 2019 and lost a low-scoring Wild Card game that was well within their grasp to the Colorado Rockies in 2018, after losing a game 163 and the NL Central crown to the Milwaukee Brewers to close out a disappointing second half.
All this, in reality, means that the last meaningful postseason appearance the Cubs made came in 2017, when, as reigning champs, they lost in five games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. It’s also worth remembering that that win – which came with Jake Arrieta on the mound at Wrigley Field on 18 October 2017 – was the Cubs last postseason win.
Honestly, that feels like a lifetime ago.
Heck, there’s a generation of Cubs fans out there who are yet to see them win a playoff game and some, even, who have never even seen them play a playoff game.
That’s why this season is significant. And that’s why the players and staff deserved their moment in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
In particular, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner – the two longest-tenured Cubs, neither of whom have ever experienced this before, given that it wasn’t possible to celebrate clinching in 2020 due to MLB’s Covid-19 protocols.
Happ got emotional when speaking to Cubs sideline reporter Taylor McGregor and got to address the team in the locker room following those champagne-soaked celebrations. It’s been quite the week for him, what with his friend and former mentor Anthony Rizzo making his return to Wrigley Field last Saturday, too.
While we weren’t able to catch the speech, you’d have to assume that Happ told his teammates that their work isn’t done yet and that it’s imperative that they go on and secure home field advantage for the Wild Card.
As things stand, in order to secure that top seed, they need to win five more games, as they face the Cincinnati Reds, the New York Mets and the rival St. Lois Cardinals to close out the regular season.
That’s doable but far from easy, particularly as the Cubs team we’re watching now is considerably different to the one that dominated the first half of the season. Driven by the offensive brilliance of Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong, that iteration of the Cubs looked like World Series contenders.
They reached the All-Star break with a 57-39 record and a .594 winning percentage; the team’s best at that point since 2016. But the second half has been a grind, with Tucker and Suzuki injured and out of sorts and PCA slumping at the dish.
As a result, it’s been up to the ever-reliable Hoerner – whose red hot second half has put him in contention for the NL batting title – as well as the likes of Dansby Swanson, Michael Busch and, much to the chagrin of some Cubs fans, Happ himself, who has the fifth best OPS on the team (.766).
The reality is that the Cubs are going to need Tucker, Suzuki and PCA to be healthy and at their best if they hope to have a shot at a deep postseason run.
Not least because Matthew Boyd, who’s been the rotation’s revelation this season, has been struggling of late, allowing four or more earned runs in five of his last six starts.
It’s not a great surprise, given that Boyd hasn’t pitched more than 78 2/3 innings since 2019 and is now at a team-leading 174 1/3 innings on the year. However, it’s also not a great sign for a rotation that’s missing its ace – Justin Steele’s been out all year – and that’s been relying on an incredible, Jake Arrieta-esque second half tear from rookie Cade Horton to keep it afloat.
Still, the Cubs front office and coaching staff know that if you can get to October, anything can happen. Particularly if you have a healthy Kyle Tucker on your team.
By making it back to the postseason, they’ve overcome a significant hurdle. But the Cubs know there’s plenty of work to be done.
If they can secure home field advantage and win their first postseason game and, ideally, series since 2017 that’ll be a start. But, for a team that not long ago had World Series aspirations and which faces an uncertain future, they’ll be hoping for a few more champagne-soaked celebrations between now and the end of the season.
Sean Guest is Bat Flips and Nerds’ Chicago Cubs contributor. He can be found on Twitter @ThatLondonCub.
Image credit: Matt Dirksen / Getty Images
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