The Chicago Cubs are heading back to the playoffs.
For the first time since 2020, the Cubs clinched a postseason berth with their 8-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday. The Cubs put up four runs in the opening inning at PNC Park, thanks in part to home runs from Ian Happ and Moises Ballesteros, and they added three more in the sixth to power them to the four-run win.
It marks the first time since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season that the Cubs will play in the MLB postseason. The team went 34-26 that year but failed to pick up a win in the playoffs, falling to the Miami Marlins 2-0 in the wild-card series.
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That loss proved to be the beginning of the end for the core that led the team to a World Series win in 2016. The Cubs non-tendered Kyle Schwarber in December 2020. After the team got off to a poor start in 2021, Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant were all traded away.
The Cubs finished 71-91 that season, good for fourth in the National League Central. The team wasn’t much better the following year, going 74-88 and finishing third in ’22.
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The Cubs started to show some signs of progress in 2023. Free-agent additions Dansby Swanson and Cody Bellinger helped lift the team to an 83-79 finish. The team inked pitcher Shota Imanaga the following offseason and posted an 83-79 record again in ’24.
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Encouraged by the growth the team showed, the Cubs decided to make a push for the playoffs in 2025 by acquiring Houston Astros star Kyle Tucker via trade. The move came at a steep cost, as the Cubs traded prospect Cam Smith in the deal. The team also traded Cody Bellinger in a separate deal to make room for Tucker, who is in the final year of his contract and will be a free agent this winter.
Tucker’s presence immediately lifted the rest of the lineup. Pete Crow-Armstrong, who was acquired in the Baez trade, put up superstar-caliber numbers in the first half this season. Michael Busch and Nico Hoerner both found another level to lift the lineup, and Matthew Boyd and youngster Cade Horton shored up the pitching staff.
Entering play Wednesday, the Cubs ranked eighth in MLB in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed. Despite that, the Cubs haven’t been able to keep up with the Milwaukee Brewers, who lead all of baseball with 92 wins. While the Cubs could technically still win the division, it’s far more likely that the team will enter the postseason as a wild card.
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With the postseason drought over, the Cubs have their eyes on another World Series title, but they’ll need to take down some powerful foes to make that happen. Both the Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies present major competition for Chicago. And while the Los Angeles Dodgers haven’t been as dominant as expected, the team won it all just last season.
The journey from here will be tough, but the Cubs always knew that would be the case. After pushing their chips to the center of the table and acquiring Tucker in the offseason, the Cubs’ goal was never to simply make the playoffs; it was to win it all.
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The first part of that checklist is done.
