AP Photo/Paul Beaty

The Rundown: Cubs Inch Toward Clincher Despite Tough Loss, Bregman Says He’s Ready to Go, Rockies Hit 100 Losses Again

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterSeptember 23, 2026

“When I’m edgy and I feel a little crazy and it’s going wrong; should I take a drink or should I try to think about a simple song?” – Full Moon Turn My Head Around by Off Broadway

The Cubs lost 8-2 to the Marlins last night, still haven’t clinched a playoff spot, and still cling to the top Wild Card position by the slimmest of leads. This is where I’m supposed to tell you that the dwindling regular season schedule worked in their favor last night, though that provides little stress relief. Chicago’s magic number to clinch home field advantage in the opening postseason round dropped to five with five games left. The “just get in” number sits at one.

The Cubs, Phillies, and Padres are all tied with 87-70 records, and that’s their seeding order thanks to MLB’s tiebreaker rules. How confident are you in Chicago’s chances? Taking the next two games against the Marlins will certainly help, but counting on your opponents to lose is an uneasy way to approach the postseason. I was hoping these three teams would duke it out like Balboa-Drago, and Shōta Imanaga certainly did his part, but his teammates lacked the fire and desire we all want to see at this time of year. Perhaps we can get the current members of Survivor to sing tonight’s 7th-inning stretch in their signature, anthem-like style.

How about that bullpen, though, huh? Caleb Thielbar and Edward Cabrera dropped a six-run stink bomb in the 12th inning to seal Chicago’s fate. Cabrera looked nothing like the postseason bullpen savior Craig Counsell hopes he will be, and Thielbar, like most of the team’s battered bullpen, simply looks gassed. Though three runs in regulation would have won last night’s game, it’s worth emphasizing that the Cubs need to score five or more runs per game to theoretically  save themselves from their bullpen.

Chicago’s relievers have blown 28 saves this season, second-worst in the division, and seventh-worst in all of baseball. In contrast, the Brewers have half as many blown saves in 2026. Thielbar and Jacob Webb are responsible for the bulk of bullpen meltdowns in August and September, and Thielbar’s vulnerabilities were on full display in last night’s loss. There is no time like the present to tighten things up.

The offense deserves equal credit for last night’s loss, particularly Matt Shaw. He’s not much for clutch hitting, but clutch bunting is a far greater problem. His botched attempt at a sacrifice in the 10th inning cost Chicago a potential victory and would have rendered the bullpen implosion mute.

Shaw is not alone, however, and though I’ve not been his biggest fan, his teammates struggled just as much, if not more. The Cubs were 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position last night, stranded 15 runners, and managed just two extra-base hits.

And that’s the rub. The Cubs have to be nearly perfect offensively and defensively in any given game to have a chance to win, and failing to execute, no matter the culprit, magnifies the team’s weakest links. The lack of a lockdown bullpen puts any close game in jeopardy. That will be the epitaph on this season unless the Cubs win the World Series, which would simply make Chicago’s wretched bullpen an anomaly.

Cubs News & Notes

  • Alex Bregman is tracking pitches in the batting cages and won’t need a stay on the IL. That’s good news for Cubs fans and even better news for Bregman.
  • Bregman actually wants to hit in tonight’s game. There is no “i” in quit, apparently.
  • Justin Steele could be promoted as an extra reliever for the weekend series in Boston.
  • That’s more of a moral victory than anything else as Steele has shown decreased velocity in his rehab work. He’s down a tick or two compared to his career norms on both his sinker and cutter since starting rehab.
  • The Cubs are perhaps the strangest of all postseason contenders because they’re built around the idea that an elite lineup and defense can overwhelm the quality and concentration of October pitching. Despite last night’s loss, the lineup might be clicking at just the right time. They’ve posted a 125 wRC+ this season, 25% better than league average, but they’ve combined for a 134 wRC+ over the last month. As the league’s marketing department once said, “This team is built for October.”

Ball Four

This is a really bad take by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. if it is accurate. ChatGPT says the core points match the translation, though it is not verbatim.

Central Intelligence

Wild Horses

  • Philadelphia (87-70): Zack Wheeler struck out the first seven Brewers he faced last night, notching his 2,000th career punchout in the process.
  • San Diego (87-70): The Padres have become a flashpoint in the current labor negotiations between the owners and the MLBPA. At a time when Major League Baseball is attempting to upend its economic model by instituting a salary cap, the Padres have emerged as a beacon for players and union officials who believe a level playing field can exist without one.
  • Arizona (83-74): The Cubs will clinch if the Diamondbacks lose today, though that won’t necessarily eliminate Arizona. It’s crazy and complicated but the D-backs have more than one life left to live. No pressure.

How About That!

The Rockies clinched their fourth straight season of 100 or more losses, the first team to do that since the 1962-65 Mets.

Shohei Ohtani is expected to play against the Padres tonight, but he may not bat leadoff.

Pete Alonso is standing in the way of Yordan Álvarez and the Triple Crown.

CJ Abrams has had a monster season and is a superstar in the making.

Andrew Fischer (Brewers), Theo Gillen (Rays), and Rainiel Rodríguez (Cardinals) are the finalists to win the Minor League Hitter of the Year award.

Extra innings

I was told Ian Happ can’t hit with runners on base.

Apropos of Nothing

Both Chicago teams have a chance to punch their ticket to the postseason on Wednesday. The Cubs and White Sox have simultaneously made the playoffs in 1906, 2008, and 2020. They’ve never clinched on the exact same date.

Maybe the North Siders were just waiting for their Junior Circuit brothers to catch up.

They Said It

  • “These are the moments that you prepare for; you know they’re coming. I know that I’m going to have a situation again where I’m going to have to put a bunt down. We all know what the stakes are, so all we can do is keep preparing for these moments.” – Shaw
  • “Right now the focus is just putting ourselves in a position to be as good as we can for the next [five] games.” – Counsell
  • “I kinda just looked down and felt like I got hit by a baseball bat to the face pretty much. Pain’s been fine, though. Well, I guess I fractured something right by the nerve in my face, so the whole left side of my face has been numb. So as soon as the swelling goes down, I’m sure I’ll feel the breaks a little bit more. And that’s kind of what started last night, because the swelling’s been going down. So I kinda felt that a little bit more this morning when I woke up. But all in all, [I’m] super lucky that it hit where it hit and just a lot of gratitude because if it was about a few centimeters higher it could have been detrimental.” – Bregman

Wednesday Walk-Up Song

Chicago’s bullpen need more than some Bondo and a little paint.

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterSeptember 23, 2026
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