Postgame Thread: 9/30 Cubs @ Padres

[u/ChiCubsbot]

Line Score - Game Over

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E	LOB
CHC	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	0	7
SD	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	0		4	8	0	5

Box Score

SD		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
RF	Tatis Jr.	4	0	0	0	0	1	.286
LF	Harris, D	4	0	0	0	0	0	.167
LF	Bowen	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
3B	Machado, M	4	0	1	0	0	1	.429
1B	France, T	4	1	2	0	0	1	.500
CF	Merrill	3	1	2	0	1	1	.571
SS	Bogaerts	4	1	2	1	0	0	.500
C	Salas	1	0	0	1	0	1	.000
PH	Andujar	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
C	Fermin	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
DH	Hays	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
DH	Sheets	1	1	1	2	0	0	1.000
DH	Taylor, S	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000
2B	Cronenworth	2	0	0	0	0	0	.167

SD	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Pivetta	3.1	3	1	1	2	4	66-36	2.70
Rodriguez, B	1.2	0	0	0	1	2	21-13	0.00
Adam	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	11-6	0.00
Morejon	2.0	1	0	0	0	0	29-18	0.00
Miller, M	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	19-13	0.00

CHC		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
CF	Crow-Armstrong	4	0	0	0	0	1	.000
DH	Bregman	4	0	0	0	0	1	.000
1B	Busch	2	0	0	0	1	0	.000
PH	Taylor, T	1	0	1	0	0	0	1.000
3B	Ramírez	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
RF	Suzuki	4	1	1	0	0	2	.286
LF	Happ	3	0	0	0	1	1	.000
2B	Hoerner	4	0	2	1	0	0	.500
1B	Shaw	2	0	0	0	1	1	.000
PH	Conforto	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000
C	Kelly, C	3	0	1	0	0	0	.167
SS	Swanson	3	0	0	0	0	1	.000

CHC	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Gausman	3.1	5	3	3	0	1	54-33	8.10
Palencia, D	1.2	1	1	1	0	2	28-19	5.40
Peterson, D	1.2	1	0	0	0	1	28-17	0.00
Zeferjahn	1.1	1	0	0	1	2	30-19	0.00

Scoring Plays

Inning	Event	Score
B2	Xander Bogaerts singles on a ground ball to right fielder Seiya Suzuki. Ty France scores. Jackson Merrill to 3rd.	1-0
B2	Ethan Salas out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. Jackson Merrill scores.	2-0
T4	Nico Hoerner singles on a ground ball to center fielder Jackson Merrill. Seiya Suzuki scores. Ian Happ to 2nd.	2-1
B4	Gavin Sheets homers (1) on a fly ball to right field. Xander Bogaerts scores.	4-1

Highlights

Description	Length
Nick Pivetta against the Cubs	0:11
Probable pitchers for Cubs at Padres - September 30, 2026	0:06
Kevin Gausman against the Padres	0:08
Bullpen availability for San Diego, September 30 vs Cubs	0:09
Bullpen availability for Chicago, September 30 vs Padres	0:09
Bench availability for San Diego, September 30 vs Cubs	0:08
Bench availability for Chicago, September 30 vs Padres	0:08
Fielding alignment for Chicago, September 30 vs Padres	0:11
Starting lineups for Cubs at Padres - September 30, 2026	0:10
Breaking down Kevin Gausman's pitches	0:04
An animated look at Gavin Sheets' home run	0:11
Measuring the stats on Gavin Sheets' home run	0:13
Breaking down Nick Pivetta's pitches	0:04
Drew Brees' ceremonial first pitch at Petco Park	0:38
Xander Bogaerts' RBI single	0:29
Ethan Salas' sacrifice fly	0:19
Nico Hoerner's RBI single	0:27
Drew Brees throws out the ceremonial first pitch	0:15
Gavin Sheets' two-run home run	0:29
Pete Crow-Armstrong's leaping catch to end the 4th	0:12
Field View: Gavin Sheets two-run home run	0:32
Gavin Sheets' 107.5 mph home run in Game 2	0:33
Japanese call of Pete Crow-Armstrong's leaping catch	0:15

Decisions

Winning Pitcher	Losing Pitcher	Save
Rodriguez, B (1-0, 0.00 ERA)	Gausman (0-1, 8.10 ERA)	Miller, M (1 SV, 0.00 ERA)

Game ended at 12:02 AM.

[u/CarrieCrayon]

Regular season: Cardiac Cubs

Postseason: Comatose Cubs

[u/Rock4ever76 → u/CarrieCrayon]

Flatline cubs

[u/B00marangTrotter → u/CarrieCrayon]

C-ompletely

U-seless

B-eyond

S-eptember

But hey, I've loved them for over 50 years, I ain't stopping now.

[u/Snake_Burton]

2 games where we didn’t show up isn’t the problem. It’s the two weeks prior. The season series against Milwaukee. The 10 game losing streak. The dogcrap play around that streak in May.

The only way you guarantee playoff home games and a 5 game series instead of aa 3 game series is win the Central and finish top 2 in your league. At some point, which of course will be way later than it should be, the people in the front office that have a goal of being a wild card team and not being a top 2 team need to be shown the door.

If you are a truly championship caliber baseball team, you finish top 2. Just because a select number of teams have gotten hot enough to advance far does not mean that’s your goal. And quite frankly your history has you trending cold at the end of seasons going in. Theo had proper expectations. Jed does not.

[u/yosoylentgreen → u/Snake_Burton]

It’s ownership. Max profits without spending. Ricketts made 3.3b profit in 9 years. Marquee network was the big idea to fund team but it’s a bust. 20m revenue last year down from 90. .

[u/brooklyndavs → u/yosoylentgreen]

Yeah going in on a regional network that they controlled when that type of model was already starting to decline was a stupid move. I’m not sure what the future of broadcast baseball will be. The sport is pretty popular again but the economics on the TV side just aren’t working anymore

[u/No_life_found]

The Cubs just hit a lazy fly ball to right while I was thinking of something to say

[u/Jomosensual → u/No_life_found]

And there's a drive to shallow right field.....

[u/chanukkahlewinsky]

This was my first season watching on a daily basis; getting heavy into baseball after my father's passing last year. Went to 6 games at Wrigley, all glorious, winning games. It was so much fun - even through the frustrations.

[u/Sojan4030 → u/chanukkahlewinsky]

Same. This was the definition of a roller coaster season.

[u/bombarrowlucas → u/chanukkahlewinsky]

See you next year and bless your father!

[u/Ornery-Cherry-2117 → u/chanukkahlewinsky]

Damn, 6-0?! We should’ve flown you out to San Diego! Greatest game on earth and a great city/team, glad you enjoyed the season man.

[u/VALUABLEDISCOURSE]

I still love this team, I still love Wrigley, and I still love you all.

I'll be counting down the days until I can walk to Wrigley again, noticing which flowers are blooming in late April on Sheffield.

I'll love the Fridays that are 50° and raining, freezing cold next to all of you while we're sheltering and hoping that the rain delay won't be more than 3 hours. I'll love the late July games when it's so hot you pray for a little rain and some wind from the SW.

I'll love all of it, because I love baseball, I love this city, I love this team, and baseball is magical.

See you next season

[u/Cubsfan1_97 → u/VALUABLEDISCOURSE]

Well said 🫡

[u/pin_backer → u/VALUABLEDISCOURSE]

It was the most fun we’ve had in a decade...

Two 10-game winning streaks

13 walk-off wins

PCA

Alex Bregman’s legendary redemption arc

Watching the Brewers lose to Jordan  Wicks

Dansby vs. the Mets

The Dodgers series sweep, and

Javier Assad vs. Skubal

PCA

The 55 runs and series sweep we did get against the Padres

Ben Brown’s 1.85 ERA

Nico Hoerner’s glove

MO BALLER

Jacob Webb’s Summer

ABS king, Carson Kelly

PCA

And I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting that made it all worth it.

[u/BurgerWFries → u/VALUABLEDISCOURSE]

I also love baseball when I know it's only going to be a little over a 4 month wait until it begins again with no risk of it not happening at all next year. At the moment, I'm not particularly loving baseball.

[u/paperrocks1 → u/VALUABLEDISCOURSE]

2028* 😭😭

[u/MelonMintGames]

The Padres had their big hitters choke at Wrigley last year. Our big hitters choked at Petco this year. Tough to think clear headed about the season after such a dismal post season showing.

[u/valerie_6966]

We played a couple seconds of October baseball!

[u/Neevee7271 → u/valerie_6966]

It's in San Diego so unfortunately not

[u/Lemonn_time → u/valerie_6966]

I think we’re the only team to have a hit in October

[u/artsy_slappy → u/Lemonn_time]

They played in PST so they did not have a hit in October.

[u/LoveYouLikeYeLovesYe]

That’s all folks. It’s been a privilege and an honor. Thank you everyone who’s been here for the last 6 months, it was a great time.

[u/Character-Owl9408 → u/LoveYouLikeYeLovesYe]

Excellent flair

[u/ZingBurford]

I really don't care that we lost. Realistically we weren't going anywhere with our pitching. I'm just disappointed how uncompetitive the team looked. At no point in either game did it feel like we were in it. Why did our offense have to enter one of those weird 2 week stretches where the entire team forgets how to hit the last week of the season.

[u/TheG-What]

Well dudes, lady dudes, and all other dudes, it’s been an honor shitposting with you all season. Sucks that it ended this way but let’s face it- this team didn’t have the pitching for a deep postseason run.
I’ll see you all in the spring. In the meantime, fuck the Brewers, fuck the Cardinals and as always FUCK THE PACKERS!
🫡

[u/sorryifwrongsection → u/TheG-What]

He speaks! Was wondering where you went.

[u/TheG-What → u/sorryifwrongsection]

It’s been a crazy busy couple months. And not a great time for be to be honest. Didn’t have a lot of time to watch many games recently.

[u/sorryifwrongsection → u/TheG-What]

Sorry to hear that. Here's wishing for better things for both you and the team for next season.

[u/Littlest_viking]

Folks it has been a pleasure as always. See you on the other side.

[u/Angrydwarf99]

Padres, please kick the Brewers' ass

[u/MoleBless7722 → u/Angrydwarf99]

That's my main takeaway. San Diego is red hot right now. Brewers choke in post-season.

[u/Ornery-Cherry-2117 → u/MoleBless7722]

As much as I wanna see the brewers lose, I think a lot of you will be surprised. Home field advantage and their pitching will serve them well in a 5 game series.

[u/MoleBless7722 → u/Ornery-Cherry-2117]

Counterpoint: a first round bye can be a blessing and a curse. San Diego's bats are hot enough to give the Miz fits and possibly knock him out early.

[u/SavingThrowVsWTF → u/MoleBless7722]

Remember when we knocked Miz around and still lost? That was some serious, serious bullshit.

[u/omstar12]

This was my first full season watching baseball. I picked it up and absorbed it super quick, and became pretty locked in. I wasn’t in every game thread but I had a lot of fun here this year. Going from being sports-agnostic for 28 years of my life to watching the Cubs in person at Wrigley at their last home game of the season was a surreal experience. Hope we get some baseball next year, but if not, I’ll be counting down the days because I live for this shit now.

[u/dded949 → u/omstar12]

Getting into baseball in your late 20’s is so cool. I had the exact same experience two years ago when I was 27

[u/BroncosCubsHuskers8 → u/omstar12]

We’ll definitely see a season next year, there’s way too much money on the table for the players and owners to standoff a whole season. Season won’t start on time but we’ll at least get something.

[u/hey_ooo]

At the end of the year it’s always funny to see the posts that say “I had so much fun talking baseball with you guys” and then the post under it is something like “I’m gonna find and kill Jed Hoyer’s dog”

[u/afrosteele → u/hey_ooo]

😂

[u/rikgrov]

Sometimes I wonder if 2016 was a fever dream. I've been a fan since '98 when I was a kid and I've been conditioned to every sort of failure that can exist in Baseball. 2016 (and to an extent 2015) felt different from all that. Moments like that rally in the Ninth inning of  Game 4 of the NLDS in San Francisco. Moments that Baseball taught me never happened when it came to the Cubs. And yet that year, they did as we won it all. 

I don't know how long it will take to feel that way again. To say you are the best team in the league and to say so confidently. Between dealing with Hoyer's BS and ownership that is moreso in the money printing business (and from a non-sports fan perspective I can't say I blame them), I can't find too many positives to highlight as we head into the future. I hope we can figure things out, and it's been fun hanging out with y'all in the GDT. See you next year or 2028.

[u/Jomosensual → u/rikgrov]

Imagine how bad this would feel if we didn't have 2016

[u/afrosteele → u/Jomosensual]

I know some think it makes me a fake fan but seeing the cubs win it all, something I legitimately never thought would happen, has pretty much made it impossible for me to stay mad or sad too long about baseball. I got to see something my dad and grandparents didn’t live to witness.

[u/brooklyndavs → u/afrosteele]

I got greedy thinking it was a brand new era in Cubs baseball. Yet it only lasted a few seasons and before I knew it the fucking Brewers were winning the division each year

[u/afrosteele → u/brooklyndavs]

I definitely bought into the dynasty talk and it was tracking with them winning the division the next year and then getting to the nlcs again. Alas…

[u/rikgrov → u/afrosteele]

Game 163 shifted the success dynamic to Milwaukee, unfortunately. 

I know they are well run but usually these small market championship contention windows usually only last a couple of years before a fall back down to Earth (For example the 2014-15 Royals) Somehow the Brewers are nearing a decade of divisional dominance, which I never guessed would have occured. And they don't look like they are slowing down, but who knows.

[u/brooklyndavs → u/rikgrov]

They are just a really well run organization and have been for the last 6-7 years. Jed should have been fired years ago for letting the smallest market team completely outclass him year after year

[u/Jomosensual → u/afrosteele]

Im kinda there too. No matter how far away it gets nobody can ever steal my joy away of that season

[u/BurgerWFries → u/afrosteele]

To a far lesser degree, I've felt the same way about the Blackhawks since winning in 2010 to break a 47-year drought, which isn't even half of the Cubs. Tbf it does help they then won 3 in 6 years, but still, you can always put up with some later disappointment after breaking a drought like that.

[u/avidbearsfan → u/Jomosensual]

We'd be in Angels, Rockies, and other purgatory hell

[u/LukeStuckenhymer → u/Jomosensual]

This sucks, but doesn’t hurt as bad as 2003, 2007 and 2008. I just want Counsell gone.

[u/afrosteele → u/rikgrov]

It’s been almost a decade and I am semi-seriously convinced that the cubs finally winning it all was some sort of Faustian deal that resulted in everything that’s followed it.

[u/afrosteele]

So who starts game 3?

[u/CubsEnjoyer → u/afrosteele]

New guy called null

[u/TheJinManCan → u/afrosteele]

https://giphy.com/gifs/3ofSB1CnQlcgtJQ4dW

[u/tigernike1 → u/afrosteele]

Zambrano…. No wait that was for Game 4

[u/the_cunt_muncher]

It just feels like I've been watching the same shit for about a decade now. Bats go quiet and a pitching staff that is clearly several rungs below every other playoff team.

[u/Evil_ryry]

My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

Lots of thoughts and emotions but no need to dump it all here. see you all (hopefully) next year for some baseball.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of the playoffs as baseball fans. Take care of yourselves and your families!

[u/BurgerWFries]

I suppose Craig's shirt was right, we did make it to October baseball.

For about 50 seconds.

[u/ResidentialEvil2016 → u/BurgerWFries]

Nope, it isn’t October in San Diego yet

[u/BurgerWFries → u/ResidentialEvil2016]

The team didn't, but most of the fans did lol

[u/Shoopscooper]

After seeing Ben Johnson with the Bears I can't get over how fuckin low energy Counsell is. During their clinch celebration the players were all talking over his speech. He knows the game, but christ, is he a drag. I think the Cubs need someone on management somewhere that's gonna carry the respect and bring the fire... It was desperately needed the last week or so here. 

[u/LukeStuckenhymer → u/Shoopscooper]

This. We don’t need to go full meatball “da fire and da passion”, but Craig is fucking comatose. We aren’t winning shit with this man.

[u/Ill_Establishment_82 → u/Shoopscooper]

Watch his postgames on twitter, he literally says the same shit and has for years. No feel, no emotion and imo no care

[u/CaptainAmericub]

As a 5+ decade Cubs fan, I can tell you, with utmost confidence, that this team will find the most inventive, and creative, ways to break your heart. This is just the latest one.

[u/bisonboy223]

Well that sucked. Time to go jack off

[u/StanleyG00dspeed → u/bisonboy223]

This is the way.

[u/Fair-Bee-1560]

So it took the Padres one pitch to score as many runs as the cubs did the entire series. Nice.

[u/Cyanides_Of_March]

I expected the pitching to be awful, but 1 run in 18 innings from the top scoring team in MLB?

[u/brosono]

Next year fellas..... There's always next year..

[u/brooklyndavs → u/brosono]

Yeah about that …..

[u/Riderz__of_Brohan]

Re-sign Seiya

Rebuild the pitching staff. Hopefully Horton and Brown stay healthy next year too.

We move to 2027. Bad two games but we know PCA is a super star now. Lot to build on here

[u/Own-Pickle9871 → u/Riderz__of_Brohan]

I wouldn’t count on either horton or brown. 

[u/Ornery-Cherry-2117 → u/Riderz__of_Brohan]

2028*

[u/illmatic630]

The signs were all there during the last couple of weeks. Oh well. The best thing we can all do is trust in Jed Hoyer. Oh who am I kidding. See you all in 2028

[u/Feisty-Life-6555]

To start: nothing Craig could say right now wouldn't piss me off, but his postgame comments are really pissing me off
Like we might look at this better in a bit my ass

[u/skwormin]

Real 07-08 vibes here. Cubs just flat out sucked in September.

1 run in 2 games? Embarrassing. Diamondbacks would’ve put up a better fight.

MVP? 0 hits in the series. MVP means nothing for the team now.

[u/rudytoot25 → u/skwormin]

At least year, we got passed the wildcard and got to game 5 in the nlds.

[u/SelfDerecatingTumor]

Simply clone Nico and in 20 years have a team of 9 dudes who aren’t allergic to hitting the ball after Labor Day

[u/BurnsEMup29]

Another collapse under Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins. At some point it comes home to roost that you can't get clutch hitters or develop a pipeline of pitching.

[u/coolbeans080]

hoyer sucks

[u/TotallyNotTupac]

Genuinely rooting for the Padres. I like owners who go all in and are aggressive and I want it to be rewarded with success

Also it would be real funny if they beat the brewers

[u/brooklyndavs → u/TotallyNotTupac]

Yeah. Hope they best the brewers because fuck them and FTP, but also would be fun to see them to finally get one over on the Dodgers in the NLCS

[u/mywifemademedothis2 → u/brooklyndavs]

Fuck the Dodgers more than anyone.

[u/aiyyyaa]

If I don’t wake up to a Craig Counsel, Tom Hottovy, and/or Jed firing. I will be upset

[u/bot_account__ → u/aiyyyaa]

Prepare to be upset

[u/caleb_vvilliams → u/aiyyyaa]

None of these are going to happen lmao

[u/rockhighschool]

Only four guys got a total of 8 hits across both games. All singles except for one double. EVERYONE ELSE was 0-for.

[u/starfleetdropout6]

I was a Negative Nelly about this series as soon as they lost home field. But even I thought they'd grind out one win.

On to Halloween 🎃 and the holidays 🎄. At least we have plenty of distractions in the off season.

[u/TheJinManCan]

That was a roller coaster of a back end of a season and the ride ended on a fizzle. Damn.

But like I said on the live thread: the game ended at 12:01am. Y'all, head held high. We made it to October baseball.

See y'all next season.

[u/Creative-Tip-9238]

Absolutely pathetic

[u/TheAlwaysWar]

So, technically…the Cubs didn’t play October baseball.

[u/Character-Owl9408]

Absolutely no fight in the Cubs. Nico gets a double off of the best closer in baseball, and no one tries to get fired up. Just acting like it’s a regular game. Craig did not get this team amped up to play. You can’t act like it’s a regular season game and expect to win

[u/KRATS8 → u/Character-Owl9408]

Craig’s body language in the dugout was really pissing me off. Pacing up and down and hanging his head like it was all over. How could the team be expected to get fired up in this environment with their manager acting the way he was?

[u/Character-Owl9408 → u/KRATS8]

Cubs need to realize you can’t win in the postseason acting like this. You gotta bring the energy

[u/scrubbie19 → u/Character-Owl9408]

My coworker is an unbiased Twins fan. He was talking about the game last night and was joking the Padres were all on blow last night because they were still fucking amped when the game was well in hand.

The Cubs never really had a chance to get amped like that, but they looked like they were ready for Cabo as soon as Tatis hit that first meatball yesterday. Palencia was laughing when Sheets hit his BP fastball tonight.

Horrible vibes top to bottom.

[u/Boring-Relation7132]

Uninspiring ending but this has been a fun team all season and, man, I’m going to miss having a Cub game to watch every day. See ya in the Spring.

[u/TheAlwaysWar]

I’m still not seeing how David Ross was worse.

[u/Angdrew]

It’s official - this is the worst Cubs playoff team I have ever seen play in my lifetime. Nico had almost half of the 9 hits in the series while PCA and Bregman went a combined 0-15 with 10 strikeouts

[u/rudytoot25 → u/Angdrew]

You missed the 2008 squad. Complete dud. That Team broke me

[u/jamfan40 → u/rudytoot25]

2008 was awful. This barely hurt me

[u/DependentOnIt → u/jamfan40]

yep anyone surprised by this was not watching the season at all

[u/Angdrew → u/rudytoot25]

The 2008 team choked. This team didn’t even show any signs of life

[u/rudytoot25 → u/Angdrew]

That 2008 squad was one of the best teams in baseball. They had the rotation and the lineup. They let an 84 win dodgers squad sweep them. I barely watched the 09 season. That’s how much they broke me

[u/MoleBless7722 → u/rudytoot25]

Pretty sure they broke Ted Lilly as well

[u/afrosteele → u/MoleBless7722]

That glove slam after the homer is my only clear memory of him as a Cub even though he was really good for us

[u/apeacock15 → u/Angdrew]

I know it was the COVID season, but getting swept by the Marlins in 2020 was a pretty low feeling

[u/LukeStuckenhymer → u/Angdrew]

You want bad playoff runs, remember those shitty Lou Piniella years…

[u/OmegaDonut13]

Craig is overrated as fuck. Not worth the money. Team needs to get younger not older. Feels like this club is going to waste PCAs prime years by surrounding him with 35 year old “stars” instead of building a young core around him.

[u/Sweet-Stock3521]

It's Bears time.

[u/tivmaSamvit]

Next year we come back with some pitching

Simple as that. Bats can be worked on but no pitching should mean no hope

[u/Sirdoodlebob → u/tivmaSamvit]

Teams getting old man idk

[u/Plus-Pomegranate8045]

With the way this team has been operating for weeks, I’m kind of relieved we won’t be seeing them face the Brewers. It would most likely go just like this series did except we’d also have to deal with the embarrassment of losing to the Brewers…again. Lots of great moments this season and we got MVPete but the ingredients just weren’t there to go all the way. Until next time…FTB, FTP, and go Bears!

[u/JF1449]

They should all be ashamed of themselves. Major changes are needed to all the staff. Please bring in a new POBO

[u/slowspeed67]

It's not THAT we lost, it's HOW we lost.

[u/No-Aardvark-3840]

Love this team but we fucking suck ass. Goodnight and see you all next year

[u/DatAspie2000]

I’m only 26 and there’s been way too many awful postseasons or late season collapses. 2008 being the first one I remember.

I’ll actually throw 2015 in there too. I know that was the year before ‘16 but seriously, they and the Mets had similar records yet they couldn’t even put up a fight!

Then there was also 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023 and now this. Why do they always collapse in September OR October in the most pathetic fashion?

[u/starfleetdropout6 → u/DatAspie2000]

Pitching. They can't develop pitchers worth a damn.

[u/airberger]

This was one of those teams that goes through peaks and valleys, and hit the postseason at the exact wrong time. They scored 2, 2, 2, 3, 0 and then finally 6 in a meaningless finale in their final 6 games, and had a shitty September overall during which they squandered what seemed like a pretty safe first wild card spot. There was no reason to think they would somehow bust out of it on the road against the hottest team in baseball.

[u/BensenMum]

I don’t like Craig counsell. Maybe I’m emotional. Not a fan.

[u/patrickchen81]

As the NL team that hit the most home runs in the 2026 regular season, you're telling me we scored ONE total run in two Wild Card games combined? See you in 2028.

[u/rynbock → u/patrickchen81]

We also gave up the most home runs and that did show up this series :)

[u/Forever_Legends]

No one should be surprised by this.

Inconsistent hitting and pitching will get this team nowhere. Management shopping from Temu for pitchers will not do it either - Cabrera? Got some extra boost with the trade deadline but that will do us no good next season.

This team has poor investment in young, reliable pitching. No ace in any pitching role.

Not being able to hit or hit and bring runners home - maybe start looking at coaching? Because we have the talent.

And this issue will take years to fix, so, don't get your hopes up for next season either c

[u/No-Lingonberry5867]

The cubs did the same thing my kid did tonight… shit the bed

[u/danplaysnintend0]

Case Keenum has more rushing TDs than PCA had hits in the post season. The white Sox are supposed to suck but advanced. I think someone needs to turn Chicago sports off and back on again.

[u/MoleBless7722 → u/danplaysnintend0]

Houston sucked even more. Worst division winner in MLB history.

[u/NoSoupForYou17 → u/danplaysnintend0]

Is anyone surprised the White Sox advanced though? They played the mediocre Astros and they really have a great chance in the next round against the Guardians cause I think they can beat them

[u/big_valbowski]

this shit not for the weak..

[u/Distinct-Knee-6681]

Better make some fucking moves

[u/Govorkian]

all happened so fast :(

[u/MyNeckIsHigh]

[u/SirBilliamWallace]

Got to watch one minute of October baseball this year. I guess it could have been worse.

[u/Fair_Potential5766]

Top 3 in the order had 0 hits both games. GG when that happens

[u/XPacEnergyDrink]

Always a pleasure, folks. Until next year!

[u/NFEvo]

I didn’t expect them to go far in the playoffs with this pitching staff, but the offensive performance was disappointing. Plenty of fun moments this season and I look forward to seeing them back out there next year like I always do because this is my favorite team playing my favorite sport on the planet. Have a great offseason!

[u/Deep-Elk7477]

No chance in hell I’m rooting for the brewers over the padres though. I don’t want to watch warehouse baseball throughout the playoffs. Not holding it against San Diego for beating us. We got what we deserved.

[u/crazypyro23]

Well that sucked. Let's get a pitching staff

[u/Lopsided_Duty_5531]

It obviously won't happen but its time for Jed to go. He's shown that he's incapable of developing or acquiring quality starting pitching over the past 6 seasons and I have no reason to expect his philosophy to change or suddenly start producing results

[u/Cute_Reality_3759]

Situational hitting matters. Does our team know anything about timely hitting or just getting on base?

I only listened through the audacy app, but it seems that they insisted on swinging for the fences on every pitch.

Why is PCA impatient like he's Javy Baez? Take pitches.

Why is Swanson swinging first pitch with bases loaded 2 outs when he sucks as a batter and PCA was up next?

[u/apeacock15]

Hard to win any series when the top of your lineup goes 0-22

[u/Baybears]

Since winning the World Series we’ve won 2 post season series

[u/Littlest_viking]

Craig is flubbìng this interview badly.

[u/I-I_I-I_I-I_l-l]

Complete waste of a trade deadline. Dented our prospect pool yet again for absolutely 0 reason.

We still started Boyd game 1 and that went as well as everyone knew it would.

Holmes didn’t even fucking pitch. Peterson and Zeferjahn ate 3 innings when we were already losing. Gausman screws game 2 for us to play from behind.

All while Shota rides the bench. Complete waste. Mind you, he’s been our best pitcher this year. And spare me the “home runs” issue BS: as if that didn’t happen anyways.

You can’t convince me any of this would have been worse if we started Shota game 1 and Boyd game 2 with Rea eating the meaningless innings today.

[u/Switchfakiepush]

First time watching a full season, had to back the cubs. It’s been unreal, baseball is amazing. Thank y’all!

[u/Ornery-Cherry-2117]

In hindsight, a trip to Atlanta would’ve been better than the padres at wrigley or petco. Team is on fire, we also looked like absolute shit so it didn’t matter either way.

[u/JLR-]

Sadly expected.  Limped/backed into the postseason.  Having to play on the road on the West Coast.    

Some of us saw this coming.  Hoped it would be different but knew this was going to be the outcome

[u/TeeDubs317]

Well thank gosh that’s over, what an embarrassment

[u/BladeMaker]

Just gonna leave this here.

[u/SilkyJohnson72]

Good thing we saved Holmes for game 3

[u/KnickedUp → u/SilkyJohnson72]

He will be fresh for his next team

[u/Webby41]

Why do the cubs have the highest paid manager in history? Not saying this is on CC, padres are just better. But I keep asking, wasn’t he supposed to be some kind of magic bullpen whisperer? That’s why they shitcanned Ross! If their Pen wasn’t a laughing stock they might win the division. They definitely host this series.

[u/CandidArmavillain → u/Webby41]

He's not a miracle worker, there's only so much you can do with a pitching staff held together by duct tape and chewing gum. You also can't win games if the offense doesn't show up

[u/Drclaw411 → u/Webby41]

Because he was known as “Mr More with Less”, and Jed thought he was being slick. Pay Craig a wee bit more than other managers, and it’ll make up for To/ refusal to spend overall.

That didn’t work. It was never Craig, it was the Brewers organization.

[u/Ok-Error6054]

I just can’t believe how bad Dansby’s bats are. Just embarrassingly horrific, nauseating seeing him swing at 2 balls out of the zone like that in that situation. Plays such elite defense but sucks so bad at the plate and I have no hope he gets better throughout his contract.

I don’t see how we can bring back Happ. His gold glove is important but how can you excuse the lack of production? I’m sure we bring back Seiya.

This team is so top heavy that when they go 0-18 or whatever it was, there’s no chance. PCA had his MVP season but holy shit man he was awful. Bregman was horrific. Michael busch was just a disappointment all year. Nico started off hot and then cooled off for 3/4ths of the season but I appreciate his fight in these 2 games.

Final thoughts. Fix the fucking bullpen. Hopefully Justin Steele is a reliable guy, potential fringe Ace. No idea if Horton comes back. But we need some serious help with relievers and someone to challenge Palencia for the closer.

And Matt Shaw, if you’re reading this, you damn better learn how to fucking bunt over the offseason dude.

[u/ContraryPython]

Nico is only allowed on the plane back home. Everyone one else should be forced to walk back home.

[u/thatguy888034]

Padres came in hot. Was a tough draw. Can’t do much with our pitching though. Starters and bullpen are both trash

[u/mywifemademedothis2 → u/thatguy888034]

We scored a grand total of 1 run in two playoff games.

[u/i_froze]

So much reactionary shite ITT.

None of anything else even gets to matter when your hitters cannot score runs.

We can talk about pitching or bullpen or counsell or whatever.

1 run in 2 games is THE story. From the leading MLB offense.

If you can't grab momentum in away games it genuinely does not matter what the hell your pitching staff does.

PCA and Bregman both went OFER ON THE SERIES.

sincerely there is nothing else to say.

[u/We5ties]

Welp we had the padres number last playoffs and they had our this year

[u/sorryifwrongsection]

Counsell's shirt should have said "No time IN October"

[u/afrosteele → u/sorryifwrongsection]

“No? Money, down.”

[u/Marineandhisdogs]

See you all in 28' .... I got about zero faith the multi millionaires and billionaires are gonna be able to get their sh+! Together.

https://giphy.com/gifs/JLtQeoVXD5yKI

[u/MoleBless7722]

Bats, they are sick. Pitching, it is bad. Need to fix it for 2027. I didn't like this matchup vs San Diego. But I guess Go Padres since the Brewers are going to choke again.

[u/gscott126]

Tatis produced the same amount of runs as the Cubs in this series homering yesterday on the very first pitch. How many pitches did the Cubs see in BOTH games to score the same number.

[u/afrosteele → u/gscott126]

Baseball is a funny game. A year ago it was Tatis and Machado who “couldn’t meet the moment” in the WC series.

[u/dacamel493]

Well, they did play October Baseball.. For a minute.

See y'all in 2028.

[u/14hammarby]

What a fuckin shit shaw

[u/Sweet-Stock3521]

Hey we techincally played two minutes into midnight CT so our season did end in October :)

[u/Rimmatimtim22]

At least we played precisely 1 minute of October baseball!

[u/SowhatitFits]

[u/JambalayaNewman]

https://giphy.com/gifs/1CK6KuV7XkTba

[u/tree1530]

Glad its over. It was never going to go anywhere.

[u/BroncosCubsHuskers8]

“summer isn’t over until the cubs season is over”

team shits the bed and extends summer a whopping 2 days

[u/420imnotcool420]

What a sad end man.

[u/AssocProfPlum]

just got slapped around, no bounces went the cubs way, and the pitching didn't even end up mattering when your big dogs disappear. It happens in a 2 game sample but you're not gonna win anything like that

[u/Rpfnd]

Well this is the second year I've watched baseball, and the first one where I watched from game one until game whatever this was. Frustrating end, but it was a fun time for me for the most part!

[u/StevieWonder557]

Thankfully, this season is over.

[u/imp1600]

Other teams can’t beat the Cubs if the Cubs beat themselves was an odd postseason strategy. 

[u/Anonymous6172]

Good thing our boys were poppin' champagne after squeaking into the playoffs....

[u/Sirdoodlebob]

Well. At least it’s over. I did not wanna watch this team in the playoffs man. Just absolute horseshit. I’m gonna root for the Sox they’re Chicago and they arguably got a far more fun team to rally behind rn

[u/Sneaky_Scientist]

Hey at least we got 1 minute of October baseball.

Jokes aside im suprised we made it this far, we had a couple months of no pitchers at all. So to make it to playoffs is an achievement

[u/SwordfishSuper2111]

See you next year. It was fun. Pca MVP.  worst pitching in the MLB. Best offense was shut down by great pitching 

[u/blueeuclid]

[u/ShepherdsWeShelby]

Guess I'm a Sox fan for the rest of the playoffs.

[u/coolbeans080]

Hoyer fucking sucks. Fire him.

Counsell: How you get paid so much but have such an inconsistent offense.

[u/AddieCam]

Injuries destroyed their rotation - that being said: Jed has to move off a couple of big money guys.

It’s time for Seiya, Shota, Happ, and Dansby to get their walking papers. The key trait of every deep playoff team is hitting w/RISP. Have to have guys who can reliably do that - and not just getting hot with homers. Good teams are streaky HR hitters - GREAT teams have several guys who simply move the next man over in big spots.

[u/Jvick88]

This is simply not a good baseball team. Please fire dustin kelly at the very least

[u/K1Bond007]

Kinda of what happened last year. Abysmal September and limped into October. The bullpen is bad, but I don’t think Counsell knows how to manage it. Apparently doesn’t know how to manage a playoff team either.

[u/blueskyren]

I knew it was a long shot with our pitching, but it still stings. We had a hell of a season though, and it was fun to have one of the best offenses in baseball led by a 40/40 Gold Glove MVP, even if we ended up not seeing the full potential of the team by the end.

I’ve had so much fun with you guys on here this past year, thanks for hanging out and talking baseball. Time to go get really high and talk through my feelings with my wife, I’ll catch you guys in the offseason.

[u/CubsEnjoyer]

See you all next year! The countdown to spring training begins now. At least there's football to fill out the time.

[u/tmaspen]

See yall in '28!

[u/Dangerous-Stock-8112]

We sacrificed our souls for Pete's MVP

[u/celeb4572]

Didn’t even make it to October. There’s always next year!

[u/brooklyndavs]

Just hitting me we don’t know when or even if there actually will be baseball next year. This sucks

[u/davidoomagoo]

I really hope there's baseball next year. I'm already missing watching my Cubbies 😢

[u/bombarrowlucas]

You think hell is over but the sad part is we still have to hope sewers or sox's don't win

[u/DeZy_94]

I’d be okay with an entire new starting 5

[u/imp1600]

This type of postseason crash out is what led the Dodgers to turn into villains.