As the champagne flowed in the Cubs’ clubhouse after they clinched a spot in the postseason Thursday, a small circle of players was interested in a different beverage.
And interested in what’s next.
“Cold beers and World Series!” someone shouted before a ceremonial shotgunning.
Will there be another one of these soaking-wet celebrations at the end of October?
That’s what’s next, finding out how far into the playoffs — which start, somewhere, with an opening-round, best-of-three series Tuesday — this Cubs team can go.
“It’s all about what’s next,” said starting pitcher Matthew Boyd, who tossed seven innings of one-run ball in a 2-1 win over the Marlins. “It’s acknowledging this year and everything that’s happened and acknowledging, at the same time, going, ‘OK, cool. There’s a lot still to be done.’
“We want to host games at Wrigley. We’ve got to take care of our business. After that, comes the challenge of the postseason. It’s welcomed, it’s exciting, it’s why you play this game, for moments like this, for moments that are coming up.”
What’s coming up, in the immediate, is a weather-impacted three-game series against the Red Sox in Boston. There’s an unusual doubleheader Friday that will foist pitching questions upon the Cubs as they attempt to not only lock down home-field advantage in the first round but align their arms for that series.
Their opponents and the location of the games? To be determined.
They started Thursday tied for second in the wild-card standings with the Phillies, both teams a game behind the first-place Padres. The Cubs would host a first-round series if they finished atop those wild-card standings. Finishing second or third would send them elsewhere.
But the Cubs believe they’re well equipped for the uncertainty to come, this weekend and beyond, after dealing with obstacles all season, be that their on-field play — the team had a pair of 10-game win streaks early and a 10-game losing streak later on — or a midsummer avalanche of pitching injuries that threatened to bury them.
Every team deals with injuries, sure. But at one point, the Cubs had an entire rotation and late-inning relief group on the injured list at the same time.
They survived, still waking up Thursday with the best offense and best defense in baseball. They went to bed Thursday having officially obtained a playoff spot.
“We have taken a lot of hits this year,” said center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong on the day he clinched the seventh 40-40 season in baseball history. “We’ve still found ourselves here.
“We’re weathered. We’re going to be better for that, too. We know it’s not going to be easy, ever. Getting to go through a bunch of weird stuff and injuries and weird injuries, we’re built for the weird s–t.”
As tested as this team has been, its biggest tests still await. And truth be told, these were the tests these Cubs were waiting for.
They set championship-level goals in the spring and have been chasing them all season. Jed Hoyer’s front office was aggressive last offseason, trading for starting pitcher Edward Cabrera and signing third baseman Alex Bregman. It got aggressive again at the trade deadline, making win-now moves for pitchers Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes.
At times, along the way, these Cubs have looked perfectly capable of achieving those sky-high goals, at others, making everyone wonder how they could possibly hope to.
The highest-scoring offense in the sport mustered only six runs in three days against the sub-.500 Marlins.
Meanwhile, Bregman, their second best hitter, is trying to come back from freak facial fractures after taking a foul ball off his face last weekend. Gausman has spent two days talking about a shoulder injury after making a diving tag Wednesday.
But winning — and champagne showers — have a tendency of washing the worries away, at least temporarily, and sending the vibes swinging back in the anything-is-possible direction.
“Getting through 162 isn’t easy,” left fielder Ian Happ said. “You saw it with our team and the injuries we had to go through. You’ve got to celebrate the regular season and what it means. It’s just the beginning, but it’s a special thing.
“This group has a lot of belief in what’s to come over the next month.”
