RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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You’ve seen the schedule.
In the next two weeks, the Cubs finally get their chance to control something about the National League Central race, as opposed to sitting and watching the Brewers sprint away with yet another division title.
But have you seen the standings?
No, not the ones that had the Cubs eight games behind the Brewers when the teams started their four-game series Monday night at Wrigley Field.
I’m referring to the Cubs knotted with the Phillies for the NL’s top wild-card spot, with the Diamondbacks and Padres sniffing around, too.
It has been a summerlong wonder whether the Cubs could chase down the Brewers, who are steaming toward a potential 100-win season and holding a vise grip on the division.
At the start of the last month of the regular season, there’s a new question: Will the Cubs even be hosting a wild-card series?
Answer, from the skipper: It’s not a question at the forefront of this team’s collective mind.
“The Cubs and the guys in that room, they’ve got a lot to say about tonight, and they don’t got much to say about Sept. 17 right now, so we’re going to worry about tonight,” manager Craig Counsell said before the game Monday. “Does everybody want to play at home as many games as we can? Absolutely. Are we going to shy away from a challenge on the road? Nope.
“That’s how we look at it, and that’s how every competitor looks at it.”
It’s not to predict some sort of collapse, though on Aug. 1, the Cubs had a healthy — if far from insurmountable — lead as the NL’s top dog in the wild-card standings.
But after dropping four of their last five series, things have tightened considerably for the North Siders.
Math is not exactly on their side when it comes to making a surge for the division.
“It’s going to be, obviously, tough,” right-hander Colin Rea said. “They’re not slowing down.”
But, hey, these Cubs can still dream, can’t they?
“I want to play [a playoff series] at home for our fans, but, really, I’d like to skip a round,” Counsell said, referencing the reward for being one of the NL’s top two division winners. “That’s not great for the fans, but I’d like to skip a round.”
Barring a big statement in the next two weeks, we could once more be discussing why the Cubs can’t get past the Brewers.
But there’s some new fodder, at least outside the Cubs’ clubhouse: This team possibly getting knocked from its wild-card perch.
What has been one of the best teams in baseball for much of the season is nowhere near falling apart. The Cubs still woke up Monday with the sixth-best record in the majors and look the part of title contenders.
“We’ve positioned ourselves through 140 games; we’re in a good place, absolutely,” Counsell said. “We’ve got a lot of fun ahead of us. We’ve got a lot of good things ahead of us. We’ve got challenges ahead of us. But we’ve put ourselves in a really good position.”
But the idea of Wrigley Field sitting empty in the opening days of the postseason is a lot more realistic than it seemed not too long ago.
The Phillies keep finding ridiculous ways to win, like with a down-to-their-last-out grand slam on Friday.
THESE PINCH HITS LOVE SOSA pic.twitter.com/Pisn2j2o5i
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 29, 2026
The Diamondbacks just took two of three from the Cubs last week.
The Cubs topped the Padres in the wild-card round last year but came a loss away from elimination. Would things have gone differently had the Cubs not been playing hosts?
With things as tight as they are as September begins, they might find out.
“I’m thinking those [dog] days are over,” Rea said. “We’re still in a good spot, but we know we still need to bring the energy every day, and we still need to take it one day at a time.
“[We need to] not dwell on the losses too much because we’re going to lose games. So it’s not letting the losses beat us up, just continuing to trust and have faith in what got us here to put us in this position that we’re in now. Just keep believing in that, really.”
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