A tight National League wild-card race has created plenty of what-ifs surrounding missed opportunities for the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs squandered a three-run lead they took into the sixth inning Tuesday night against the Atlanta Braves, hurt by three two-run home runs in a 6-3 loss. They still hold a half-game lead ahead of Philadelphia for the first wild-card spot after the Phillies also lost Tuesday. The San Diego Padres, sitting in the third wild-card position, also failed to gain ground with their eight-game winning streak snapped.
The Cubs managed just five hits in the loss and didn’t put a runner in scoring position after the fourth inning, managing only one base runner (a single) in the final five frames.
“This time of year everything is obviously magnified and there’s a lot of pressure,” said starter Kevin Gausman, whose two-run home run to Ronald Acuña Jr. in the sixth were the only runs he allowed in 5 2/3 innings. “You can’t forget what got you here, and I haven’t been around this team that long, but it’s a super loose team so we just kind of keep that mentality of not letting these games that mean a lot mean too much. You have to find a way to go into a game and still have fun out there. … Find a way to not let that pressure get to you.”
As much as the offense was limited by the Braves starter Martín Pérez and the bullpen, the Cubs haven’t been getting enough from their ’pen.
“We’ve got to get guys pitching well, and we’ve got to have guys that we can count on and multiple guys we can count on,” Counsell said. “We’re not going to survive if we don’t have multiple guys we can count on.”
The Cubs enter Wednesday with 10 regular-season games left to determine their postseason future. If they’re going to hold on to a playoff spot and keep the Phillies, Padres or Arizona Diamondbacks from overtaking the top wild-card position, they need these three players to step up.
1. RHP Daniel Palencia
Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya and relief pitcher Daniel Palencia congratulate one another after shutting down the Atlanta Braves to end the top of the sixth inning of a game at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Sept. 15, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
The season hasn’t gone the way Daniel Palencia and the Cubs anticipated.
Two injuries — a flexor strain that sidelined him for two months being the most significant — have limited the right-hander to 29 games and 25 1/3 innings this season after posting a 2.91 ERA and 22 saves in 2025. The Cubs need the 26-year-old to lock in and become closer to the version Counsell used in a key fireman role during the 2025 postseason.
Perhaps Tuesday marked another small step in the right direction.
Palencia retired the only batter he faced, entering the sixth inning with a runner on first base as the Cubs held a one-run lead. He needed just two pitches to retire Mauricio Dubón on a fly out. It gave Palencia his fifth straight appearance without allowing an earned run, though there are still a couple of underlying concerns.
Most notably, Palencia hasn’t been generating many swinging strikes even in his recent successful appearances. In his last five games, he’s recorded six whiffs on 68 total pitches. His velocity continues to be down, too, topping out Tuesday at 98.3 mph on the two fastballs he threw. It’s a pitch he averaged 99.6 mph last season and would hit triple digits. At this point in the season, this might just be who Palencia is right now, but the Cubs must hope his confidence, and velocity, continue to build.
2. RHP Jacob Webb
Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Jacob Webb reacts after giving up a two-run home run to Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies (left) in the seventh inning of a game at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Sept. 15, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
For two consecutive months, Webb was nearly untouchable.
Riding a 24-consecutive-scoreless-appearances streak into the Cubs’ West Coast trip in late August, Webb has endured nightmarish outings since then. He surrendered another go-ahead home run Tuesday, giving up a two-run shot to Ozzie Albies off a changeup that put the Braves ahead 4-3 in the seventh. In his eight appearances dating to the end of his scoreless streak on Aug. 22, Webb has allowed runs in five of those outings, which includes four home runs, all of which blew the Cubs’ lead.
“It’s an outing where the walk to lead off the inning is the thing I look back on,” Counsell said. “It’s a four-pitch walk, not something that (Webb) does, and that’s kind of what gets you in trouble and makes the home run hurt.”
The Cubs signed Webb in the offseason to be a quality reliever, projected as a sixth- and seventh-inning arm. Injuries forced Webb to take on a bigger role in June, and the veteran’s sizzling stretch — zero runs and 13 hits in 24 2/3 innings from June 24 to Aug. 21 — helped stabilize a banged-up pitching staff. They need him to recapture some of that consistency in the final days of the regular season as the most experienced high-leverage right-hander in the ’pen.
Part of that comes down to his execution. Webb’s slider, which he started throwing this year to replace his sweeper, isn’t used often (8.8%, nearly all to right-handed hitters) but has given up damage. He primarily relied on his changeup and four-seam fastball Tuesday; he’s been tagged for four home runs on his changeup this season.
3. RHP Edward Cabrera
Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Edward Cabrera stands on the mound as Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the ninth inning of a game at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Sept. 15, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Edward Cabrera hadn’t entered a big-league game out of the bullpen since 2023 when he was summoned with two outs in the seventh inning Tuesday.
And even those two previous ’pen experiences were bulk four-plus inning outings for the Miami Marlins as he returned from injury. Cabrera’s stuff saw an uptick in velocity across all five of his pitches, including his fastball, which hit 99.8 mph and averaged 98.4 mph compared to 96.2 mph in his 15 starts this year.
“It was exciting for me to get out there again,” Cabrera said through an interpreter.
With the tying run at second as he entered the game, Cabrera recovered from a 3-0 count to Acuña to force an inning-ending ground out. Counsell stuck with him through the eighth and ninth innings, and Cabrera navigated highs (three strikeouts) and lows, none bigger than the two-run home run Drake Baldwin hit on a poorly located 0-2 fastball. It turned a one-run Cubs deficit into a 6-3 Braves advantage.
“Yeah, you can definitely feel more (pressure) in the situation that we were in,” Cabrera said. “They were only up by one run, so whenever you’re in situations like that, those errors are magnified.”
The long ball was the MLB-leading 227th home run the Cubs have allowed this year. Counsell thought Cabrera otherwise had a good outing.
“The home runs change games,” Counsell said. “We’re giving up too many, there’s no question about it. Some of it has been weather-related, tonight was not.”
With Webb again faltering Tuesday, Palencia still trying to recapture his old form and Ryan Zeferjahn showing flashes of the high upside the Cubs traded for, the Cubs need Cabrera to settle into his relief role to provide them a viable hard-throwing right-handed option.