Cubs (Boyd) vs Pirates (Oviedo): 9/17/25, 11:35am

[Brandon Glick]

It's clinch day!

[Rcal10]

Hope suzuki is back today. 

[Derwood]

1 minute ago, Rcal10 said:

Hope suzuki is back today. 

[squally1313]

Clinch day is nice but this is Keep Matt Boyd Healthy Day and also, ideally, Get Matt Boyd Back To Elite Day

[UMFan83]

The Cubs clinched based on someone losing in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2020.  Only in 2017 did we clinch with a win.  I believe in 2015, 2016 and 2018 we had a chance to clinch with a win but lost and relied on help.  Hopefully we take the bull by the horns and put this 5 year playoff drought to bed today.

From playoff appearances that I remember:

-1998 - Clinched with win over SFG (Game 163)

-2003 - Clinched with win over PIT

-2007 - Clinched with MIL loss to SD

-2008 - Clinched with win over STL

-2015 - Clinched with SFG loss to OAK

-2016 - Clinched with STL loss to SFG

-2017 - Clinched with win over STL

-2018 - Clinched with STL loss to MIL

-2020 - Clinched with PHI loss to WAS

Edit: Nevermind on 2016, looked it up...the Cubs clinched a playoff berth in 2016 with a win over STL, but they had a chance to clinch the division later on and lost and clinched with an STL loss to SFG

Edited September 17, 2025 by UMFan83

[bukie]

 

[Bertz]

I know I'm generally the "well akshually this starter is pretty solid" guy but Oviedo is the opposite.  He sucks, go beat him and enjoy some early afternoon champagne.

[gflore34]

Did anyone have the Cubs 3 games better than the Dodgers this late into the regular season?  What I also find surprising is despite the Brewers being literally unbeatable for a significant stretch the Cubs are only 5 games back in the loss column.

[KCCub]

Not great -

 

[squally1313]

6 minutes ago, KCCub said:

Not great -

 

I had thrown out there yesterday that the lack of Caissie in Chicago meant the Cubs weren't overly concerned about Tucker, but Suzuki in RF/Ballesteros at DH is another contingency plan I guess, so could be a chance we have a bigger problem here. 

[Bertz]

15 minutes ago, KCCub said:

Not great -

 

I wonder if this continues if he can DH.  It sounds like he's hitting still, it's just running that's the problem.  If we run out of clock can he just hit and jog out any balls in play Aramis Ramirez style?

[Irrelevant Dude]

11 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

I had thrown out there yesterday that the lack of Caissie in Chicago meant the Cubs weren't overly concerned about Tucker

Caissie has a concussion.

[gflore34]

17 minutes ago, KCCub said:

Not great -

 

I'm seriously questioning if he's worth a mega contract from the Cubs.  Sure, if he plays, but, this is bringing up memories of Kris Byrant.

[Irrelevant Dude]

How does playoff seeding work again?  Does the #1 seed always play the winner of the 1/2 Wild Cards regardless of whether that winner has a better record than one of the division winners?

If so, we want Milwaukee to keep winning, right?  I certainly don't want the Phillies looming if the Cubs are able to get through the Wild Card series.

[KCCub]

10 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

I had thrown out there yesterday that the lack of Caissie in Chicago meant the Cubs weren't overly concerned about Tucker, but Suzuki in RF/Ballesteros at DH is another contingency plan I guess, so could be a chance we have a bigger problem here. 

Since Caissie was called up on the 13th, wouldn't that signal maybe they were a little more concerned? (I'm not sounding the fire alarm here, just seems that since Caissie was actually called up, that counters the argument of the Cubs not thinking they need Caissie in Chicago)

[Geographyhater8888]

26 minutes ago, KCCub said:

Not great -

 

horsefeathers.

[Geographyhater8888]

11 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

I'm seriously questioning if he's worth a mega contract from the Cubs.  Sure, if he plays, but, this is bringing up memories of Kris Byrant.

Bryant had degenerative back issues, Tucker doesn’t have anything that will affect him permanently that we know of. I wonder how much his price has dropped. 

Edited September 17, 2025 by Geographyhater8888

[gflore34]

2 minutes ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

Bryant had degenerative back issues, Tucker doesn’t have anything that will affect him permanently that we know of. But I doubt anyone will throw that $450 million figure at him.

The Dodgers will, of course, deferred until 2500.

Edited September 17, 2025 by gflore34

[Jason Ross]

10 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

How does playoff seeding work again?  Does the #1 seed always play the winner of the 1/2 Wild Cards regardless of whether that winner has a better record than one of the division winners?

If so, we want Milwaukee to keep winning, right?  I certainly don't want the Phillies looming if the Cubs are able to get through the Wild Card series.

Winner of 4/5 always plays 1 seed, winner of 3/6 always plays 2 seed. There is no reseeding in the MLB playoffs. Strict bracket.

[soccer10k]

43 minutes ago, KCCub said:

Not great -

 

Doom bonering here, but there’s a non-zero chance he’s already played his last game for the Cubs. I mean, probably not. If he can hit and jog, they could just do what they did with Schwarber in the 2016 WS. So I would think he’d at least PH in a playoff game. But depending on where in the calf the injury is, I’m not sure it’s worth it for him to risk an Achilles injury and I wouldn’t blame him if he doesn’t take that risk.

Edited September 17, 2025 by soccer10k

[UMFan83]

At this point, while acknowledging there's still plenty of time for things to change, I'm not counting on Tucker being there for at least the WC round.  Maybe we'll get a more positive update in a couple of days but something seems very off about this.

[Bertz]

It doesn't seem super likely we'll need those games next weekend against the Cardinals, but with Contreras and Winn out and Gray being lined up to miss us they should be *very* winnable.

[WhyCantWeWin]

I think the Yankees will still overpay for Tucker next offseason. 

[chibears55]

1 hour ago, gflore34 said:

Did anyone have the Cubs 3 games better than the Dodgers this late into the regular season?  What I also find surprising is despite the Brewers being literally unbeatable for a significant stretch the Cubs are only 5 games back in the loss column.

Dodgers nope, and the Brewers, sucks that they went off and played like the 27 Yankees for 2 months, but the cubs still had an opportunity to get the lead back but was stuck on playing 500 ball for a bit.

Hopefully they get to meet up in the next round and the cubs can handle buisness then.

[Rcal10]

35 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

At this point, while acknowledging there's still plenty of time for things to change, I'm not counting on Tucker being there for at least the WC round.  Maybe we'll get a more positive update in a couple of days but something seems very off about this.

I think he will be on the roster for the WC round. Maybe just a DH, which is fine. But if he is a DH, I do think they may then keep Mo. He would be insurance if Tucker did tweet his calf again. Which is why Tucker has to DH. I would much rather see Mo replace him than Castro.