The National League wild-card standings continue to create tough pitching decisions for the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs had a fantastic opportunity to clinch a playoff spot Tuesday night against the Miami Marlins, needing a win or an Arizona Diamondbacks loss to get into the postseason.
But they couldn’t convert multiple chances in the 10th inning of an eventual 8-2 loss in 12 innings. Matt Shaw failed to get a bunt down against Marlins reliever Jack Ralston to advance the runners from first and second, instead popping out on a ball at eye level for the first out in the tied game.
That miscue proved costly. The next batter, Ian Happ, hit a deep fly to left that would have scored the winning run from third had Shaw successfully bunted. Nico Hoerner followed with a two-out walk, and Pedro Ramírez worked the count full before hitting a sharp grounder for the final out.
“These are the moments that you prepare for; you know they’re coming,” Shaw said. “I know that I’m going to have a situation again where I’m going to have to put a bunt down. We all know what the stakes are, so all we can do is keep preparing for these moments.
“And obviously experience helps. Experience like this is going to help for the next time when I’m in that situation, and that’s all you can walk away with.”
Neither team broke through in the 11th, and everything fell apart for the Cubs in the 12th. The Marlins scored six runs, including three charged to Edward Cabrera.
Going 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position and stranding 15 runners added to the feeling of a missed opportunity, especially with the results of the other NL wild-card contenders.
The Cubs’ loss, coupled with the Philadelphia Phillies beating the Milwaukee Brewers and the San Diego Padres losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers, made it a three-way tie with five games to go.
In the big picture, how the Cubs align their starting pitchers in the coming days to set up the postseason rotation is among their most pressing decisions.
Left-hander Shota Imanaga delivered another strong outing, though his pitch count prevented him from going deeper. He held the Marlins to one run in five innings without walking a batter or surrendering a home run while striking out seven.
Imanaga is peaking at the right time, unlike a year ago. Through four September starts, he has a 1.96 ERA (five earned runs in 23 innings) and, importantly, just two walks and no home runs.
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“Being the third year here in the MLB, just looking at the past two years, I reflected on myself, figured out what I needed to do better, especially toward the end of the season,” Imanaga said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “I feel like I was able to do that this year, and the main thing is that my body’s feeling healthy.”
Right-hander Kevin Gausman is scheduled to go Wednesday versus the Marlins, but Thursday’s starter is listed as to be determined. It’s not yet clear how the Cubs will align their rotation this weekend against the Boston Red Sox for their final regular-season series. Complicating that: A nor’easter is forecast to hit Boston with heavy rain all weekend.
Before Tuesday’s loss, manager Craig Counsell said the Cubs might change the rotation order of some pitchers, but they still have important games remaining and want to put themselves in position to win all of them.
With only one day off Monday before the wild-card series would begin Tuesday, that doesn’t leave much wiggle room to adjust the rotation. A weekend doubleheader because of the rain or, in a worst-case scenario, having to play a regular-season finale Monday would further complicate the Cubs’ pitching plans.
“As we get to the weekend, you have other considerations that have to be made,” Counsell said. “There’s going to be a weather consideration this weekend. It sounds like as we get closer, we’ll be able to make better decisions regarding that.
“So I’m sure things will happen, but right now the focus is just putting ourselves in a position to be as good as we can for the next (five) games.”
Those decisions could be influenced in part by whom the Cubs face in the wild-card round. If the Cubs get the Phillies, it would be more appealing to stack a lefty-heavy rotation to try to neutralize the best Philadelphia hitters: lefties Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Luis Arraez and Bryson Stott. But with how bunched the wild-card standings remain, the Cubs might need to commit to a rotation order before they know which team they’ll face.
This is the position the Cubs put themselves in by going 7-8 over the last two weeks. Their inability to create separation from the Phillies and sizzling Padres will create tough decisions in the coming days. Among them is whether to bring back left-hander Justin Steele.
Steele, who hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since April 2025, is an option for this weekend in Boston, Counsell said Tuesday. He will throw a bullpen Wednesday. Activating him from the injured list would require both a 40-man roster move and clearing a spot on the active roster.
“I’m really encouraged that he pitched really well in his last (rehab) outing, and that’s most important,” Counsell said. “That’s a good feeling for him, just to pitch or to have success and to feel like (he) threw the ball well as you work through this process and work to get back. So that’s a great sign.
“There’s other considerations after Justin from a team perspective that we’ve got to figure out and make sure that we make the right decisions.”
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