Cubs Week in Review: The Postseason is Nigh, with Wrigley Field Playing Host to the Friars

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Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Whenever this season concludes for the North Siders, who knows how the book on it will read? But, no matter what, that narrative won't be written without at least one chapter of playoff baseball at Wrigley Field. We knew what was at stake this past week, and burying the letdown of being denied yet another division crown, the Cubs delivered everything left on the table at this point—with much more still to come. After suffering the most crushing blow of the season (the loss of young ace pitcher Cade Horton), Chicago—led by a reinvigorated offense and a mostly brilliant bullpen—arrive at October in control of their own story. 

Though it might not resonate as anything but cliche, nothing has come easy for Craig Counsell's club this season, at least since the second half got off the ground. Off the ground and into astonishingly turbulent skies, night after night, the Chcago Cubs' offense performed one of the most puzzling disappearing acts in memory based on how prolific it had been at the outset of the 2025 campaign. In so many ways, the final week of the Cubs' regular season embodied everything that has transpired in the last 162 games, in a hopeful overture for playoff prominence. 

In the wake of suffering a four-game sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds, the Cubs kicked off a three-game set with a desperate New York Mets squad. Flirting with a last-minute bid for the National League batting title, the sensational Nico Hoerner raked (in a losing effort to the Mets) in front of a home crowd pining for postseason baseball within the Friendly Confines. The second baseman went 3-for-5 and came around to score three times. Sadly, this fateful night was not only one in which the Cubs blew a 6-1 lead, but also could have very well been the last appearance of Cade Horton until 2026. The 24-year-old righty was forced to leave the game after just three innings with what was later revealed as a rib fracture. In uncharacteristic fashion, the bullpen did not hold up, allowing the Mets to bop their way back into the game in the late innings, taking the opening contest of this one 9-7. 

If the Cubs are to enjoy any kind of run in this postseason, they'll need 14-game winner Matthew Boyd to dazzle. That's exactly what he did in the middle game of this series against the team from Queens. Apparently shaking off all of his recent woes in one fell swoop, Boyd spun 5 1/3 innings of 2-hit baseball. Whether you witnessed it on Marquee Network or live from Wrigley Field, you could see Boyd's light come back on, suggesting that he is poised to deal in the postseason for his squad. Offensively, the North Siders deployed their signature brand of suffocating slug, getting homers from Michael Busch and Matt Shaw. Elsewhere, Pete Crow-Armstrong rediscovered his potent swagger, racing around the bases like a thoroughbred race horse at Saratoga Race Course. The Cubbies evened the series with a 10-3 win, and unofficially reintroduced the type of punishment their offense can inflict on opposing squads. 

You could call me a glutton for punishment for writing the last sentence of that last paragraph, since the North Siders dropped the series finale to a Mets team that was watching its playoff hopes quickly slip away. The sudden decline of the once-fabulous Shota Imanaga looks like a limiting factor in the Cubs' playoff chances. The sparkplug lefty has been dealing with severe issues when it comes to surrendering home runs in the early innings, and that unfortunate trend persisted in this outing. In his 5 2/3-inning performance, Imanaga gave up a staggering eight earned runs. It's clear that whatever has gone awry has the Cubs' ace frustrated, but we'll find out in very short order if he can right the ship to help his club triumph in the postseason. A late surge from the offense was not enough for the home team, as the Cubs dropped the series in an 8-5 loss. 

Baseball is perhaps the best sport in the world, for a plethora of reasons, one of the most intriguing of which is the juxtaposition of fortunes of clubs at the end of the season. The Cubs, playing for the right to host playoff games at Wrigley Field in front of an adoring crowd for the first time since 2018, faced their bitter rivals in St. Louis, a team with nothing to play for outside the role of spoiler. The Cubs played like a team in control of its own destiny, pummeling the Cards on the strength of a masterclass performance from each member of the squad that took the field. As had frequently been the case in 2025, Cubs sluggers haunted Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas. Swatting five homers in the game, the trio of Michael Busch, Seiya Suzuki, and Pete Crow-Armstrong each deposited at least their 30th home runs of the 2025 campaign. It made Crow-Armstrong only the second Cub in franchise history to record a 30/30 season, tallying 30 home runs, and over 30 (35) stolen bases. Pete Crow-Armstrong established himself this season as one of the best players in the game. At the most important time, he looks the part. The 12-1 route was the squad's 90th of the season, and ensured that the following day would afford them the opportunity to lock up home field advantage in their Wild Card Series versus the San Diego Padres.

Leaving nothing to chance, the Chicago Cubs seized their golden opportunity to start their 2025 postseason run at home. Jumping out to an early lead, they got gritty performances from the pitching staff, including from Jameson Taillon. Taillon's six-inning outing provided adequate runway for the Cubs offense to do its job, scoring in each of the last four frames of this contest. The tone of the game resembled that of a playoff tilt, with each club engaged in a chess match of fierce competition. Cardinals' skipper Oli Marmol firmly affixed a black hat to his person, issuing an intentional walk to the scorching-hot Busch, who was due up just a base hit away from the cycle. The move unleashed a chorus of boos from the Wrigley faithful, but those jeers soon turned into the last laugh as Busch and his club slugged their way to home field advantage in the Wild Card Series with an impressive 7-3 victory. 

They say momentum doesn't exist in baseball, but if you were one of the close to 38,000 fans on hand at Wrigley for game 162. On the strength of a stunning performance by Javier Assad, the Cubbies ended the regular season with a sweep of the Cardinals, 2-0. What impressed the most about the squad's final tune up before the postseason, was the sure-handed defense from both the middle infield and the outfield. The Cubs hustled, charged, and rifled in balls when they needed to the most, stranding Cards baserunners and getting efficient work from the bullpen. The most curious outing of the day came from Jordan Wicks, who delivered three flawless innings to keep St. Louis off balance. For hopefully the first of a few times this week, the stadium echoed with the famous lyrics of "Go Cubs Go."

The story, as fraught with mystery, suspense, and intrigue as it has been, is getting better than ever. The postseason stage is set for the Chicago Cubs, playing with an uncommon chemistry and belief in one another, under skies that conjure up more feelings from mid-June than early-October. Playing their most inspired baseball, Chicago poses as big a threat to make it all the way to the Fall Classic as any of its other participants. To be fair, they could saddle us with just as much heartbreak, but there is still more story to be told. 

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