The Rundown: Everybody’s Doggin’ Cubs, Game 1 Start Leaves Boyd Emotional, Bochy Among Three Pink-Slipped Managers
“When I’m enraged or hitting the stage, adrenaline rushing through my veins, and I’d say we’re still kicking ass.” – Kickstart My Heart by Mötley Crüe
The playoffs are here and I, for one, am excited, though a quick perusal of social media indicates that about 60% of Cubs fans think it’s a foregone conclusion that our hometown heroes are likely to be swept. I sort of understand the pessimism given the North Siders’ history, but sometimes you just have to let your inner fan flag fly. I mean, if the postseason hype video narrated by Anthony Rizzo didn’t stir up the tiniest bit of hope, you’re too cooked to be a Cubs fan. Sorry, not sorry.
It’s the playoffs, man! It’s baseball’s version of that early winter holiday season where everybody loves everything and all the pumpkin spice shit has been put back into storage for the following year. If you make it to the World Series and win it, well, that’s like New Year’s Eve in mid-autumn. I know I’ll never forget watching Best Buy Christmas commercials while the Cubs were trying to close out Cleveland in November of 2016. Has anyone seen Steve?
Things are pretty festive now that the Cubs are hitting again, too. Chicago is nearly unbeatable when the lineup clicks the way it has for the better part of the last week. Watching Seiya Suzuki break his slump has been as majestic as anything we’ve seen all year. Of course, it’s not lost on any of us that his offensive rebirth coincided with the injury to Kyle Tucker and ultimately his return because it forced Craig Counsell to put Suzuki in the outfield. Tucker will see action at DH only for at least this series.
If you’re still channeling your inner Grinch because Cade Horton is injured, I’ll remind you that the Cubs still needed to win on the days he wouldn’t pitch anyway. I’m not sure Horton’s availability would help those who fear the long autumn shadows cast by Nick Pivetta and Dylan Cease. It’s nothing short of amazing when fans look at the pitching matchups, side with recency bias, and declare all hope is lost. Matthew Boyd is a very good pitcher. Shōta Imanaga and Jameson Taillon are also very good.
The Cubs will win with defense, speed, power, very good starting pitching, and a vastly underrated bullpen. The Padres have a better bullpen, but nobody can convince me that Pivetta and Cease are capable of completely shutting down Chicago’s offense. If I’m fearful of anything, it’s that the Cubs tend to slump en masse, and that can’t happen when elimination is just two games away. Still, there’s a small amount of revenge Chicago’s North Side Baseballers need to exact on the Brewers, and that can’t be done until the Cubs eliminate the Padres.
Cubs News & Notes
- Our own Sean Holland provides a preview of the Wild Card series with the Padres.
- Boyd takes the bump today, and though tomorrow’s starter has yet to be announced, Imanaga or Taillon will probably get the call.
- The veteran lefty hopes to replicate his playoff success of a year ago when he pitched for the Guardians. Boyd allowed just one earned run in 11.2 innings of work against the Tigers and Yankees.
- Boyd was both emotional and grateful that Counsell picked him as the Game 1 starter.
- The Cubs announced their official 26-man roster this morning. Miguel Amaya did not make the cut, but Moisés Ballesteros and Kevin Alcántara did. Javier Assad and Jordan Wicks were also not included.
- The team believes it is perfectly constructed for postseason baseball.
- The last time the Cubs and Padres played each other was on April 16. Each team won three of the six games they’ve played this season.
- The Cubs are underdogs according to CBS Sports, ESPN, and The Athletic ($). “The Cubs’ best chance is striking quickly,” per ESPN’s Paul Hembekides. “Padres manager Mike Shildt won’t hesitate to lean on his superb bullpen early, especially in a best-of-three series, but early Chicago runs flip the script. That forces a middling Padres lineup into a slugfest it isn’t built to win. The Cubs hold more pathways to victory while San Diego’s formula is narrow and volatile: Hand the ball to the bullpen with a lead and let it dominate.”
- Do the Cubs need to beat the Padres for this season to be a success? Philosophically speaking, the answer is yes.
- CM Punk narrates another Cubs postseason hype video.
- Playoff baseball at Wrigley Field is a dream come true for almost all of the Cubs players. Winning would be even greater. Ian Happ is the only holdover from the 2017 team, the last one to win a postseason series.
- Today also marks the first postseason appearance for Nico Hoerner. His competitive fire and consistency are attributes that may give the Cubs an advantage against San Diego.
- Suzuki was named the NL Player of the Week. Aaron Judge took that honor in the American League.
Ball Four
May I present Munetaka Murakami in case the Cubs are in the market for a left-handed smoke show?
This cat has slugged .549 against much older competition his entire career. The corner infielder is considered a baseball god in Japan, though his MLB trajectory is career DH.
Munetaka Murakami hits an absolute missile for his 21st homer
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) September 30, 2025
Central Intelligence
- Milwaukee: Pat Murphy and the Brewers are prepared to be flexible during the postseason.
- Chicago: Pete Crow-Armstrong is a five-tool player who can blog a little, too. This is a must-read if you have any fears and reservations about this week’s games.
- Cincinnati: Baseball’s spending disparity is on full display this week as the $121 million Reds take on the $505 million Dodgers.
- St. Louis: Chaim Bloom will orchestrate a massive rebuild after the World Series. Sonny Gray, Lars Nootbaar, Miles Mikolas, and Nolan Arenado are just a few of as many as 14 players who will not be back with the Redbirds.
- Pittsburgh: The Pirates will go to battle next season with Ben Cherington as GM and Don Kelly as manager.
How About That!
It’s a wide-open field this postseason with no clear favorites.
Bruce Bochy will not return next season as the Rangers’ manager due to “financial uncertainty.”
The Giants and Twins will also be making managerial changes. San Francisco dismissed Bob Melvin and Minnesota fired Rocco Baldelli. Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz tops the search list for both teams. Skip Schumaker is the favorite to land in Texas.
MLB announced that attendance grew for the third straight season.
Playoff ticket prices are up 9% in comparison to last year. The Cubs and the Red Sox are the drivers behind the increase.
The White Sox have the highest odds of winning the 2026 draft lottery.
Here are the wildest moments in MLB Wild Card history.
Wild Card Position-by-Position Breakdowns
Who do I have advancing? The Guardians, Cubs, Red Sox, and… the Reds are my upset special. That guarantees at least one team will represent the NL Central in the league championship series. Why the Cubs? The Padres don’t slug in general, and they’re even worse against lefties. I’m also a little tired of the Yankees and Dodgers.
Extra Innings
The Cubs do love their fans and those deep pockets they bring to Wrigley Field.
None of this is possible without all of you. 💙 pic.twitter.com/pghkBEEEtr
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 28, 2025
Apropos of Nothing
It has been 2,904 days since the Cubs last won a playoff game. United States citizens have a life expectancy of roughly 29,004 days (79.45 years).
They Said It
- “We’ve played really well at home this year, and I think the fans are a big part of that. I think the day games are a big part of that — learning the conditions and embracing the wind and the sun and all of that. Wrigley’s definitely, I think, one of the best home-field advantages in sports. We’ve kind of seen it all this year. We’ve been challenged to win a lot of different ways, and I think that really helps us.” – Taillon
- “Who am I? I’ve been looking for the answer. I found myself searching on YouTube a few weeks ago on the road. And there it was. 2016 WORLD SERIES GAME 7 HIGHLIGHTS. F*** it. Time to lock in again. Man, it hits every time.” – Crow-Armstrong
- “The experience of the guys that have been here and done it — Dansby Swanson and [Justin Turner], and the guys that have made deep postseason runs who’ve won, and then a group of young guys that’s excited for this opportunity. It’s going to be new, and there’s definitely going to be some parts of it that they’re not used to, but in a great way with the excitement, the energy. [Counsell] made some really good points about letting the game come to you and letting the energy take you to another level, and not pressing yourself to be there. I think that’s one of the biggest keys to postseason baseball. The energy is fantastic. There is this atmosphere, but you’re still doing the same thing you’ve done for 162 games.” – Happ
Tuesday Walk-Up Song
Of course!
