Brandon Glick

Kyle Tucker is removing himself from the team as he attempts to rehab from his lingering calf issue. Is there a legitimate reason to be concerned about his health just two weeks out from the playoffs? View full video

It probably doesn't "matter", but it'd be nice not to get swept by the Reds...

Even though the Cubs have lost two in a row, the Padres have done the same, meaning the magic number to clinch the top wild card spot is now down to four.

The Chicago Cubs finally secured their playoff spot by sweeping the Pirates, locking in their first October appearance since 2020. Can they ensure the Wild Card Round is hosted in Wrigley Field? View full video

Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Moises Ballesteros was always expected to hit. Young catchers rarely, if ever, show any level of advanced feel with the bat in their hands, but Ballesteros was an exception from the moment the Cubs signed him as a teenager. In 2022, his first full season of pro ball, an 18-year-old Ballesteros posted a .743 OPS after getting a late-season call-up to Single-A Myrtle Beach. In 2023, he climbed all the way to Double-A Tennessee, slashing .285/.374/.449 across three levels despite being years younger than the average age at each stop. He hit 19 homers in 2024, making it all the way to Triple-A Iowa as a 20-year-old backstop. There were question marks on defense, to be sure, but the bat was not to be doubted. We thus arrive to the current 2025 season, where Ballesteros only continues to improve. He's hammered Triple-A pitching to the tune of a .316/.385/.473 batting line over roughly 500 plate appearances, earning his call-up to the big leagues for his MLB debut. He's been up and down a bunch this season as the Cubs have shuffled their roster to make room for injured players and outside additions, but in his first taste of uninterrupted MLB action, Ballesteros is proving he belongs. Since getting the call back to the bigs on Sept. 12, Ballesteros has played in every game for the Cubs (save for Friday night's affair against the Reds) as the starting designated hitter, batting cleanup. In those 27 plate appearances, he's batting .333/.407/.667 to go with two home runs and a triple. In conjunction with his impressive 11.1% walk rate, Ballesteros' 189 wRC+ in that span is the best on the team. He's doing the things you'd expect a quality big league hitter to do during this hot streak; his hard-hit rate (38.9%) is up, he's deploying a solid all-fields approach, and luck has been on his side (.375 BABIP). Sure, his ground-ball rate is an alarming 61.1%, but when you've got the bat control and power of Ballesteros, it's easy to punch those ground balls through the infield. Of course, the big part of the conversation with "Mo Baller" is his defensive home. He hasn't been allowed to play anywhere in the field in the big leagues, and there have been endless questions about his ability to handle catching on a full-time basis. For what it's worth, he did catch in more than half of the games he appeared in with Iowa this season, but standing at a stout 5'8" and nearly 200 pounds, he's certainly not the best glove the Cubs can deploy behind the plate. If this sounds familiar, it's exactly the conundrum the Cubs had with Kyle Schwarber one decade ago. Another sturdily built left-handed slugger, Schwarber tried his hardest to make things work as a backstop, though his defensive shortcoming and huge offensive potential were too much to overlook. The team elected to stash him in left field -- even after his infamous torn ACL to open the 2016 season -- rarely letting him DH, if ever. Now, Schwarber is in his mid-30s as a full-time DH and hitting better than ever. There's a lesson to be learned from that saga. Ian Happ is currently patrolling left and Michael Busch is entrenched at first base; Ballesteros will never be better defenders than they are. His bat is already among the best on the team—why ask him to handle a physically demanding position he isn't good at (catcher) or one he barely knows (left field, first base) and risk letting his bat falter? It might seem counterintuitive to relegate a 21-year-old to the DH spot on a permanent basis, but the Astros have done it with Yordan Alvarez for years, and it's safe to say they don't have any regrets. When you have someone who makes hitting look as easy as Ballesteros does, there's no reason to be greedy. As long as he's not getting drilled by line drives off the bat of Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ballesteros should be a fixture in the Cubs' lineup for the remainder of the season as the regular designated hitter. Bat-first rookies don't always live up to the hype right away, but most rookies aren't Ballesteros. View full article

Reds still have something to play for. Only two games back in the Wild Card

Playoff-bound with 10 games left. The 1st Wild Card is in sight.

It's clinch day!

Well, this is a fun pitching matchup.

Easiest series left on the schedule (besides the freefalling Mets). Time to take advantage.

Well, that was a disappointing Anthony Rizzo day.

Seiya Suzuki bobblehead day. Will he answer with a big performance?

Fun fact: Besides Yanier Diaz, no one in today's starting lineups has faced the opposing pitcher before.

What do Cubs fans have to look forward to in the final few weeks of the regular season? View full video

Originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox -- at the time helmed by Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer -- in the sixth round of the 2007 MLB Draft, Rizzo signed out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to play professional baseball. He quickly ascended to Top 100 prospect status after a 2010 season in which he hit 25 home runs and drove in 100 runs as a 20-year-old, though that prompted the front office to trade him to the San Diego Padres (where Jed Hoyer took over as general manager) along with Casey Kelly, Reymond Fuentes, and Eric Patterson in exchange for Adrian Gonzalez. Though he continued to annihilate minor league pitching, Rizzo struggled badly in his MLB debut for the Padres. In 128 at-bats, he hit just .141 while striking out 46 times. When the Padres acquired Yonder Alonso for Mat Latos, they deemed Rizzo superfluous at first base and sent him to the Chicago Cubs... where Jed Hoyer was once again serving as Theo Epstein's right-hand man. Indeed, in one of the best and most important trades in franchise history, the Cubs acquired Rizzo for Andrew Cashner on Jan. 6, 2012. There is so much to say about Rizzo's decade-long tenure on the North Side of Chicago, only some of which has to do with Hoyer's apparent obsession with the first baseman. The slugging lefty earned three All-Star nods, four Gold Gloves, a Platinum Glove, a World Series ring, and the 2017 Roberto Clemente award. Though most fans recognize him for that 2016 championship, Rizzo has stated that his work with fellow cancer survivors and community service in the greater Chicago area are the greatest feats of his career. In those 10 years on the North Side of Chicago, Rizzo accrued a whopping 37.1 bWAR, hitting .272/.372/.489 with 242 home runs, 784 RBIs, and 62 steals. He ranks sixth all-time in franchise history in home runs, 13th in RBIs, 15th in on-base percentage, 20th in hits (1,311), 10th in OPS (.861), 10th in extra-base hits (538), and, of course, first in hit by pitches (165). Across his entire 14-year MLB career, Rizzo finished eighth all-time in HBPs (222). Yes, Rizzo's unorthodox plate approach, where he choked way up on the bat with two strikes and crowded the plate like no one else in the modern game, was as endearing as it was bizarre to watch. It's hard to pick one, two, or even five favorite Rizzo memories. The tarp catch. That time he struck out Freddie Freeman. The ricochet catch in the World Series. The Bryzzo Souvenir Company. I mean, he caught the last dang out of the greatest World Series of all time! If you're asking me, I think I'd have to point to his home run against Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2016 NLCS as my favorite Rizzo memory. The solo shot, which extended the Cubs' lead to 5-0, absolutely did not matter in the final box score (that five-run lead held the rest of the way), but that was the moment where I can remember feeling like, "Holy crap, the Cubs are actually going to win the pennant!" The crowd at Wrigley Field was so loud that the sound actually distorted on the broadcast. As Cubs fans, we'd become so conditioned to expect the other shoe to drop—we just knew, at some point, reality would set in. It was Rizzo who broke that curse for me. Though nothing is confirmed yet, it feels only right that, one day, Rizzo's No. 44 will become the seventh number retired by the franchise. Eventually, Rizzo was traded to the New York Yankees on July 29, 2021, in exchange for Alexander Vizcaíno and Kevin Alcántara; the former quickly left baseball after the deal, while the latter remains one of the top prospects in the Cubs' farm system. He remained in the Bronx for the remainder of his career, playing 370 games and parts of four seasons with the Yankees. His best season came in 2022, when he hit 32 home runs and posted an .817 OPS, though a mismanaged concussion in 2023 all but ended his prime. He returned with a muted performance in 2024 (.637 OPS in 92 games), though he did slash .267/.421/.300 in the postseason. After the season, the Yankees declined his team option, sending him to free agency for the first time in his career. He failed to find a major league contract, opting to sit out the season. On Sept. 10, 2025, Rizzo announced his retirement from professional baseball, joining the Cubs organization in a team ambassador capacity. View full player

Legendary Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo has returned to the franchise to retire. What are some of the best moments of his tenure in Chicago? View full video

The Cubs have won two straight and the Brewers have lost three in a row... and the Cubs are still 5.5 games back in the division. First NL Wild Card, here we come! How are you feeling about the state of the Cubs right now?

It was less than 12 months ago that Anthony Rizzo was taking World Series at-bats for the New York Yankees. Far removed from his prime years with the Chicago Cubs, the first baseman was still a key contributor for a team with championship aspirations. Fast-forward to today, and Rizzo has been out of work since the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Bronx Bombers in Game 5 on Oct. 30, 2024. He was involved in various rumors for first-base-needy teams, including the Cubs, but nothing ever materialized for him in free agency. He sat out the entirety of the regular season, and the expectation was that he'd pursue a contract for the 2026 campaign. Then, a surprise: Anthony Rizzo announced he would be retiring immediately, as a member of the Chicago Cubs. It's a fitting end to a terrific career, one that arguably borders on "legendary" (and certainly would be there had the team not unceremoniously dumped him at the 2021 trade deadline). The history of the Cubs cannot be written without Rizzo, and his influence on that 2016 championship team was immense. So, let's give him the career retrospective he deserves. Originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox -- at the time helmed by Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer -- in the sixth round of the 2007 MLB Draft, Rizzo signed out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to play professional baseball. He quickly ascended to Top 100 prospect status after a 2010 season in which he hit 25 home runs and drove in 100 runs as a 20-year-old, though that prompted the front office to trade him to the San Diego Padres (where Jed Hoyer took over as general manager) along with Casey Kelly, Reymond Fuentes, and Eric Patterson in exchange for Adrian Gonzalez. Though he continued to annihilate minor league pitching, Rizzo struggled badly in his MLB debut for the Padres. In 128 at-bats, he hit just .141 while striking out 46 times. When the Padres acquired Yonder Alonso for Mat Latos, they deemed Rizzo superfluous at first base and sent him to the Chicago Cubs... where Jed Hoyer was once again serving as Theo Epstein's right-hand man. Indeed, in one of the best and most important trades in franchise history, the Cubs acquired Rizzo for Andrew Cashner on Jan. 6, 2012. There is so much to say about Rizzo's decade-long tenure on the North Side of Chicago, only some of which has to do with Hoyer's apparent obsession with the first baseman. The slugging lefty earned three All-Star nods, four Gold Gloves, a Platinum Glove, a World Series ring, and the 2017 Roberto Clemente award. Though most fans recognize him for that 2016 championship, Rizzo has stated that his work with fellow cancer survivors and community service in the greater Chicago area are the greatest feats of his career. In those 10 years on the North Side of Chicago, Rizzo accrued a whopping 37.1 bWAR, hitting .272/.372/.489 with 242 home runs, 784 RBIs, and 62 steals. He ranks sixth all-time in franchise history in home runs, 13th in RBIs, 15th in on-base percentage, 20th in hits (1,311), 10th in OPS (.861), 10th in extra-base hits (538), and, of course, first in hit by pitches (165). Across his entire 14-year MLB career, Rizzo finished eighth all-time in HBPs (222). Yes, Rizzo's unorthodox plate approach, where he choked way up on the bat with two strikes and crowded the plate like no one else in the modern game, was as endearing as it was bizarre to watch. It's hard to pick one, two, or even five favorite Rizzo memories. The tarp catch. That time he struck out Freddie Freeman. The ricochet catch in the World Series. The Bryzzo Souvenir Company. I mean, he caught the last dang out of the greatest World Series of all time! If you're asking me, I think I'd have to point to his home run against Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2016 NLCS as my favorite Rizzo memory. The solo shot, which extended the Cubs' lead to 5-0, absolutely did not matter in the final box score (that five-run lead held the rest of the way), but that was the moment where I can remember feeling like, "Holy crap, the Cubs are actually going to win the pennant!" The crowd at Wrigley Field was so loud that the sound actually distorted on the broadcast. As Cubs fans, we'd become so conditioned to expect the other shoe to drop—we just knew, at some point, reality would set in. It was Rizzo who broke that curse for me. Though nothing is confirmed yet, it feels only right that, one day, Rizzo's No. 44 will become the seventh number retired by the franchise. Eventually, Rizzo was traded to the New York Yankees on July 29, 2021, in exchange for Alexander Vizcaíno and Kevin Alcántara; the former quickly left baseball after the deal, while the latter remains one of the top prospects in the Cubs' farm system. He remained in the Bronx for the remainder of his career, playing 370 games and parts of four seasons with the Yankees. His best season came in 2022, when he hit 32 home runs and posted an .817 OPS, though a mismanaged concussion in 2023 all but ended his prime. He returned with a muted performance in 2024 (.637 OPS in 92 games), though he did slash .267/.421/.300 in the postseason. After the season, the Yankees declined his team option, sending him to free agency for the first time in his career. He failed to find a major league contract, opting to sit out the season. On Sept. 10, 2025, Rizzo announced his retirement from professional baseball, joining the Cubs organization in a team ambassador capacity. View full article