AP Photo/Chris Urso

The Rundown: Postseason Road Games Could Help Cubs, Bregman Swinging Hot Bat, PCA’s Historic Season, Playoff Predictions

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterSeptember 28, 2026

“No wiseman has the power to reason away what seems to be.” – What a Fool Believes by The Doobie Brothers

All things considered, going to San Diego to play a Wild Card series against the Padres is not as bad as it seems, and there are myriad reasons why I believe that. With that in mind, I will offer some positivity to start your week off on the right foot.

  1. Wrigley Field becomes a pitcher’s park at this time of year, which plays opposite to Chicago’s strengths.
  2. Alex Bregman appears to be showing no ill effects from his facial injuries, at least at the plate.
  3. Bregman is 7-for-8 with a 2.025 OPS in his career against Game 1 starter Michael King. I like Chicago’s chances of jumping out to an early lead with Bregman hitting behind Pete Crow-Armstrong Tuesday night.
  4. The Cubs are ranked No. 6 among all playoff teams per MLB.com, two places higher than the Padres.
  5. The Cubs are 5-1 against the Padres this year, and took two of three at Petco Park by scoring 20 runs in that three-game set.
  6. In fact, Chicago scored 55 runs in the six games they’ve played against the Padres, including a 23-3 win against Walker Buehler on July 1.
  7. Mason Miller hasn’t given the Cubs any trouble this year, and he’ll be a non-factor if the Padres fall behind in any of the games.
  8. I know Chicago’s travel itinerary has been crazy, but most of the key players are rested, and it’s not like they’re flying Spirit Airlines to the West Coast. They’ll be well-rested and ready to go Tuesday.
  9. Please stop talking about the 1984 NLCS. That was a generation ago and will not factor in the outcome of this series. There is no San Diego jinx.
  10. We’ve got Torque on the left coast. Enough said.

The silver lining in all of this is that the Cubs won’t have home field advantage in any series if they advance, which could actually work in their favor. This team has proven they can hit anybody, and they are averaging 9.2 runs per game this season against the Padres. They’re also averaging 4.54 RPG against the Brewers, with better production against the Phillies (7.86) and Dodgers (5.33). The Braves (3.83) have handled Chicago’s hitters a little better.

Plenty of positives, I assure you. About the only thing the Cubs have working against them is their doom-and-gloom fanbase and their tendency to go ice cold for extended periods of time. Chicago is 35-16 in blowouts, 23-21 in one-run games, and 43-38 on the road this season. They’ll be tough to beat if they play at or above their offensive capabilities. Put another way, Chicago’s Pythagorean record is 95-67, which means they’ve been worth six extra wins when their bats are booming.

Take a deep breath and make yourself a spritzer or two. Get yourself some California Pizza Kitchen. Things just aren’t as dire as you want to believe.

Cubs News & Notes

Ball Four

I used to get free White Sox tickets for perfect attendance when I was in grammar school, and I’d get them every year. I’d just like to see Crow-Armstrong get a ring.

Central Intelligence

How About That!

Baseball’s current playoff format will be part of the ongoing CBA discussions. One idea is to reseed the teams after the Wild Card round. Another idea is to go from three divisions per league back to two, with four Wild Card teams in each league making the playoffs.

Here are the final stats leaders of the 2026 regular season.

Pete Alonso became the first player in MLB history to lead both leagues in RBI.

The Rockies have the best odds to get the first pick in next year’s draft, followed by the Angels, Athletics, and Royals. The Cubs could pick as high as No. 20 if they do not advance past the Wild Card round and the Red Sox and Phillies advance.

Max Scherzer fell one out short of earning a $1 million bonus for reaching 85 innings pitched.

The Mariners announced that they fired manager Dan Wilson after Sunday’s game. Brandon Hyde could be among the candidates to replace Wilson.

Playoff News & Notes

The league announced the schedule and game times for the first round of the playoffs.

Broadcasters for each series have been named, too.

The Phillies avoided another epic collapse on the final day of the season. The Astros also became the first team in history to make the postseason with a .500 record.

The Dodgers may be more vulnerable than you think.

A Cubs-White Sox World Series would be fun. There’s always hope that Pope Leo XIV will throw out the first pitch of Game 1.

Steve Stone narrated the postseason hype video for the South Siders, and it’s somewhat inspiring.

Three from the Bill Chuck Files

  1. Shohei Ohtani is the first MLB player to finish four consecutive seasons with the most popular jersey since sales tracking started in 2010. PCA finished third this year.
  2. The Red Sox and Yankees will play in the postseason in consecutive years for the second time in series history. They also did so in 2003 and 2004. Cubs and Red Sox fans are still well aware of 2003.
  3. Alonso also led the American League in home runs, making him the sixth player in MLB history to lead both leagues in that statistic. Ohtani, Mark McGwire, Fred McGriff, Sam Crawford, and Buck Freeman are the others.

Apropos of Nothing

McGriff played for the Cubs in 2001-02, but I had forgotten he started his career with the Blue Jays. He played for the Padres, too, which also slipped my mind. The Crime Dog earned one ring in his Hall of Fame career (1995) while playing for the Braves, the team I always associate him with.

Son of Apropos

Offense will win the early rounds, but pitching will ultimately prevail. Here are my postseason predictions:

  • NL Wild Card: Cubs over the Padres, Phillies over the Braves
  • NLDS: Brewers over the Cubs, Phillies over the Dodgers
  • NLCS: Brewers over the Phillies
  • AL Wild Card: White Sox over the Astros, Red Sox over the Yankees
  • ALDS: White Sox over the Guardians, Red Sox over the Rays
  • ALCS: White Sox over the Red Sox
  • World Series: Brewers over the White Sox

For the record, I hate taking the White Sox to win the AL pennant, but that’s how I see it.

Standing on Business

Evan mentioned over the weekend that the site might become too expensive to run. This has always been a labor of love for all of us, and it is certainly not something we are doing to pad our bank accounts. He is correct in saying that a prolonged work stoppage could be the death of this site, especially if running it becomes a net negative endeavor. It may be already based on the decreases in ad revenues and readership.

If the site shuts down, I will not be seeking opportunities to write elsewhere. I will happily create something for free access if you want to continue following me, such as a Rundown email newsletter. I would need permission first because Evan could sell the site, and The Rundown is technically one of its assets. Regardless, writing here has been a pleasure and privilege.

Writing is in my blood, and has been a big part of my education and professional career since I failed my creative writing class as an eighth grader in 1978. I failed my class because all of my journal entries were about the Cubs and Bears, which I suppose was not very creative after all.

In other news, this is officially my last year in Milwaukee. I’ll be moving to the Tampa/St. Pete area next September 1. Expect to see me at a lot of Cubs games next season, if one is to be played, that is.

Extra Innings

Speaking of hype videos…

They Said It

  • “This is not normal that a player is back on the field right now after what [Alex] has been through. You still see what he looks like, frankly, and that tells you what he’s still going through. That’s what I’m surprised by. But his performance, I don’t think it surprises you.” – Counsell
  • “The first four months of the season, I don’t know what that was. I’m embarrassed to have put that on tape. But the last two months of the season, that’s who I am as a player. I’m proud to know that, no matter how big of a hole I dug myself, I found my way back out of it and [finished with an OPS] over .800.” – Bregman
  • “You’re shaking your head in amazement [at Pete]. I told Alex [Bregman]: ‘We don’t get to see things like this.’ You spend your whole life in baseball, and you just don’t see this happen on a baseball field. You’re grateful to be a part of it. You’re grateful to see things like this. And then you’re grateful that the fans get to see a season like this, because they’re going to tell their kids about it. They’re going to tell their grandkids about it.” – Counsell
  • “[We have] the best position-player season I’ve ever seen in my career. [Pete’s] going to win the MVP. He’s going to win the Hank Aaron Award. He’s going to win the Platinum Glove. To me, that’s more impressive than any kind of Triple Crown that we would talk about.” – Jed Hoyer
  • “Collectively, whatever outs we’re called to get, we’ll be ready to get them. Whatever situation, whatever rest, at this time of year, it’s about, ‘What can you do today?’ And that’s all that’s really important.” – Matthew Boyd
  • “I feel confident with any one of these guys starting Game 1 or Game 2, or any game. It’s a good problem to have.” – Gausman

Monday Walk-Up Song

All my bags are packed, literally and figuratively…

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterSeptember 28, 2026
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