The Chicago Cubs are trying to make the MLB playoffs for the first time since 2020, and the NL wild card race is coming into focus.
As things stand, the Cubs still have a strong lead over the San Francisco Giants as they try to secure one of the three wild card spots in the league, and they still lead the San Diego Padres in the race for the top wild card spot, which comes with home-field advantage in the first round of the postseason.
Since the playoff format has changed since the Cubs last made the postseason, how does it all work, and if the season ended today, who could Chicago face in October?
Here’s what you need to know.
National League Central Standings:
Milwaukee – 89-56
Chicago Cubs – 81-63 (7.5 GB)
Cincinnati – 72-72 (16.5 GB)
St. Louis – 72-73 (17 GB)
National League Wild Card Standings:
Chicago Cubs – 81-63
San Diego – 79-65 (2 GB of Cubs)
New York Mets – 76-68 (3 GB of Padres)
San Francisco Giants – 73-71 (3 GB of Mets)
Cincinnati – 72-72 (4 GB of Mets)
A refresher on how the MLB playoffs work
The Cubs haven’t made the postseason since 2020, and the playoff structure has changed since the last time the team played October baseball.
Major League Baseball expanded the playoff field in recent years, with three wild card winners making it into the postseason instead of the two that had been in place in previous years.
The two division winners with the best records in the league receive an automatic bye into the National League Division Series, while the third-best division winner will face the third-best wild card team in a best-of-three series, with all three games taking place at the higher seeded team’s ballpark.
The top wild card team will also host a best-of-three series against the second-best wild card club. The winner of that series goes on to face the top-seeded team in the league, while the winner of the other series faces the second-best division winner in a best-of-five series.
What is the Cubs’ magic number?
Even with their recent struggles, the Cubs still are very much in control of their own destiny in the National League, holding an eight-game lead over the San Francisco Giants with just 18 games left to play in the regular season.
As a result, the Cubs’ magic number to clinch a wild card berth in the National League stands at 11 entering play on Tuesday, as they still own the third-best record in the league.
If the season ended today…..
Since the Cubs have the best record of the wild card teams in the National League, they would host a best-of-three series at Wrigley Field against the second-seeded team, which is currently the San Diego Padres.
In the other wild card series, the division leader with the worst record, in this case the Los Angeles Dodgers, would host the worst wild card team, which remains the New York Mets.
If the Cubs were to knock off the Padres, they would face the team with the best record in the National League, which remains the Brewers, who still have a 5.5-game lead over the Phillies in that race.
The two teams would face off in a best-of-five series starting in Milwaukee, while Philadelphia would welcome the winner of the other series to the City of Brotherly Love.
The Road Ahead:
Having lost four of their last five games, the Cubs have two more games against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park before returning home to take on the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Padres will continue their series against the Reds at Petco Park before taking on the lowly Colorado Rockies for four games to wrap up this week.
The Mets, having lost three games in a row, have three more games in Philadelphia before returning home to take on the Texas Rangers for three games at Citi Field. They then host the Padres next week in a series that could prove critical to their playoff chances.
The Giants knocked off the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night and have two more games against Arizona before the Los Angeles Dodgers make the trip northward for a three-game weekend series.