![\"Cubs](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/CTC-L-Cubs-Mets-092525-21_239767634.jpg\")
Cubs manager Craig Counsell, center, argues a call with the third-base umpire in the first inning against the Mets on Sept. 25, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\nNo one on the Chicago Cubs is thinking yet about the San Diego Padres.<\/p>\n
It wouldn\u2019t be prudent, of course, even though the Cubs\u2019 wild-card-series opponent has been apparent for a while and was made official Thursday afternoon when the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the National League West.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s still that one little thing on the Cubs\u2019 to-do list \u2014 clinching home-field advantage in the wild-card series so all games in the best-of-three matchup are played at Wrigley Field.<\/p>\n
That can\u2019t happen until Friday at the earliest, so there was no need to be thinking ahead to the Padres.<\/p>\n
So naturally I asked Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson before the Cubs lost the series finale to the New York Mets 8-5 on Thursday if he was thinking about the Padres, knowing he definitely was not.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, and it\u2019s not because you\u2019re not worried about them,\u201d Swanson, 31, said. \u201cThey\u2019re a great team and have a lot of great players. They can pitch, they can beat you in a bunch of different ways. But this team, this group, almost to a fault, its biggest strength and also its biggest weakness is very much (focusing on) the now and what\u2019s right in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fortunately, we\u2019re already thinking about the Padres, the team that battled the Dodgers for the NL West crown until the final days of the season and an organization that went all in at the trade deadline, acquiring Athletics closer Mason Miller for a package that featured shortstop Leo De Vries, the No. 3 prospect in the game according to MLB Pipeline.<\/p>\n
Miller, who leads the majors with 14.9 strikeouts per nine innings, made an already-strong bullpen that much more lethal. And with bullpen usage magnified in the postseason, the Padres should have a significant advantage over the Cubs with their top-ranked relief corps. The Padres bullpen leads the majors with a 3.05 ERA and 48 saves while ranking fifth with 9.46 strikeouts per nine innings. The Cubs bullpen ranks 12th with a 3.82 ERA, ninth with 43 saves and 22nd with 8.41 strikeouts per nine.<\/p>\n
The Cubs know this, and of course they know the Padres lineup includes two of the best right-handed sluggers in the game in Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. In fact, there\u2019s really not much they don\u2019t know about San Diego. They probably could tell you the best place to get fish tacos. Baseball players consume baseball like the rest of us.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re always aware,\u201d Swanson said. \u201cPeople that say they aren\u2019t are lying. So you\u2019re always aware, but you just aren\u2019t consumed by it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cubs manager Craig Counsell, center, argues a call with the third-base umpire in the first inning against the Mets on Sept. 25, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
Manager Craig Counsell said he knows his rotation but isn\u2019t going to announce it until he\u2019s forced to next week. Rookie Cade Horton\u2019s uncertainty because of a back injury<\/a> could complicate matters, though Horton is scheduled to throw Friday to see if he\u2019ll be ready.<\/p>\n Counsell met with the front office Thursday about the postseason roster, which is fluid for now.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re at this phase where we\u2019re starting to put plans in place,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019re going to have multiple ones. We have four baseball games (left), which can affect things.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cubs went 3-3 against the Padres, beating them 3-1 in the home opener at Wrigley Field on April 4<\/a> and ending the season series with a 4-2 loss on April 16th at Petco Park, the 21st game of the 2025 season.<\/p>\n It will be nearly 5\u00bd months since their last meeting, and though most of the regulars are the same, the journeys both teams went through to get here makes them very different from what they were in April. Wrigley Field, where the Cubs hope to play the wild-card series, is also a different place with ivy on the walls and temperatures forecast in the 60s and low 70s for next week.<\/p>\n Though he has more postseason experience \u2014 37 games \u2014 than most of his teammates, Swanson said he probably wouldn\u2019t talk to the team before the playoffs begin.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not much of a team addresser,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s not really my thing. \u2026 At some point I\u2019m sure there will be a conversation. There are things I\u2019ve done in the past, but I won\u2019t say, \u2018Hey, this is what\u2019s going to happen.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n An hour later, Cubs players gathered together in a circle on the infield after the team went over some defensive plays like a spring training workout. Swanson then spoke to the team<\/a> before they broke up and headed to the clubhouse.<\/p>\n So what gives?<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re putting in trick plays to throw off the opponent,\u201d Counsell cracked.<\/p>\n Counsell later said he asked the players if they had any questions after the refresher course, and Swanson spoke up.<\/p>\n \u201cDansby took it over, which is great, and he very adeptly explained one of the trick plays we instituted, and explained it to all the pitchers,\u201d he said. \u201cDid a really good job. He was a good teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Cubs](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/CTC-L-Cubs-Mets-092525-23_239767626_d2e467.jpg\")
With third baseman Matt Shaw, right, watching, Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson falls into the protective netting after catching a popup from Mets designated hitter Mark Vientos in the first inning Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n