Cubs heading in wrong direction as postseason approaches

The Chicago Cubs are in serious trouble after not taking care of business.

The last week has not been kind to the Chicago Cubs, and they need to snap out of it fast.

At 32-25 through 57 games, the Cubs have already clinched a postseason berth in the expanded MLB postseason. One would think they are slated to be either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the NL postseason picture with the NL East Champion Atlanta Braves in some order. However, the Cubs have fallen apart since last Friday and may not even get to host a three-game NL Wild Card series.

Do the Chicago Cubs have the mental toughness to salvage this sinking ship?

Since taking the two-game set at home over the Cleveland Indians last Tuesday and Wednesday, the Cubs have lost consecutive series to the Minnesota Twins and the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are 2-5 in their last seven games and 1-5 in their last six. The Cubs dropped the final three on the road to the worst team in baseball in Pittsburgh. Next up is three games vs. the Chicago White Sox.

The Cubs are now 19-22 since their blazing 13-3 start to the 2020 season. They only have a three-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central.

The White Sox are playoff bound as well, and have plenty to play for. They are half a game back of the Twins in the AL Central race, but only two games ahead of Cleveland. All three will play in October, but seeding remains to be seen.

Atlanta has four games left this year with one more vs. the Miami Marlins at home on Thursday night and three at home vs. the awful Boston Red Sox. Though the Braves can’t catch the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in the NL, it is important for them to get the No. 2 seed in the NL over the Cubs or whoever ends up winning the NL Central this year. Will it even be the Cubs?

If the Cubs don’t end up winning the division, they’re very likely to be the No. 5 seed and will have to face the No. 4-seeded San Diego Padres at Petco Park for a three-game series. Along with the Braves, the Padres stand as the most formidable challengers to the Dodgers in the Senior Circuit this season. If they fall to No. 6, No. 7 or No. 8, they’ll have to play a division winner on the road.

Though they are one of four NL teams to punch their ticket into October (Dodgers, Braves, Padres, Cubs), Chicago isn’t playing anything close to playoff baseball. Teams like the Cardinals, Marlins, Reds, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants are having to play postseason baseball now to ensure that they’re getting in. Only four of those six will get in.

While anything can happen in a best-of-three series, it’s not ideal to be playing poorly heading into the playoffs in any sport. The Cubs may have more talent than most teams in the National League, but they certainly aren’t playing up to their standard. Three teams are clearly better than them in Los Angeles, Atlanta and San Diego, possibly a few more will be by the end of the weekend.

This is a team that needed to duke it out with the Braves for the other NLCS spot to face presumably the Dodgers for the right to go to the World Series over in Arlington, Texas.

If the Cubs get swept or look bad in a 1-2 series defeat at the hands of the White Sox, it’s over.