PITTSBURGH — The Cubs are back in the playoffs.
For the first time in a full season since 2018, the Cubs will play postseason baseball. The Cubs’ 8-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday clinched the berth.
The Cubs played in the playoffs in the shortened 2020 season, getting swept by the Miami Marlins in the National League Wild Card round.
They fell to the Colorado Rockies in the 2018 one-game, NL Wild Card. That was the fourth straight year they had made the playoffs and the first without winning a game. They made it to the NLCS three straight years from 2015-17 and won the World Series in 2016.
The Cubs will enjoy the moment, but aren’t seeing it as mission accomplished.
“The celebration part, it’s just us having fun together and having some fun together,” Craig Counsell said before Wednesday’s series finale in Pittsburgh. “What’s wrong with that? It is celebrating that you have accomplished something and it’s celebrating us being together. That’s what it’s about, that’s what you celebrate. It’s an appreciation for each other and the work that we’ve done to get to this point — that’s what the celebration is about.
“Of course, every team that’s in this situation is thinking ahead … and we’re in the same boat.”
That’s because there is still plenty to play for over the final 10 games. The Cubs still hold the top spot in the NL Wild Card, a five-game lead over the San Diego Padres. The magic number to seal that spot is six after Wednesday’s victory.
If the Cubs hang onto the top spot, they will host the three-game Wild Card series at Wrigley Field beginning Sept. 30. The Cubs played both the 2018 and 2020 Wild Card games at Wrigley Field, but the latter was held without fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
[Should Cade Horton start Game 1 of the playoffs?]
The Cubs will have the champagne celebration that comes with a clinch, something they haven’t done since 2017. The team did not celebrate their 2018 playoff berth as they were waiting to celebrate until a potential NL Central title to do so. That never happened, as Counsell’s Milwaukee Brewers chased them down the stretch, forced a game 163 and ultimately beat them at Wrigley Field to take the division crown. That forced the Cubs into the then-one-game NL Wild Card, which they lost to the Colorado Rockies.
The 2020 season made it difficult to hold team-wide celebrations due to the pandemic and social distancing.
It makes this clinch even more special.
“Just talking to the guys that have done it, it’s such a memorable moment,” Cubs right-handed reliever Brad Keller said. “And I’ve never done it, and we’ve got guys in here that have done it multiple times. Just something special.”
[How should the Cubs handle the Kyle Tucker situation in the playoffs?]
Just how much has changed since those last playoff berths?
Well, Ian Happ is the only player on the roster who remains from both the 2018 and 2020 seasons. Nico Hoerner and Colin Rea are the other two members who were part of the 2020 Cubs. And the Cubs’ ace in that 2020 season, Yu Darvish, could square off against them in the NL Wild Card as a member of the Padres rotation.
The Cubs still have 10 games to seal that fourth spot in the NL (and top Wild Card seed). They will complete their last road trip of the season with four games in Cincinnati and host the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field before the season ends. The Mets currently hold the final spot in the NL Wild Card.