Wow, where did the summer go? I guess time flies when you have the best baseball team on the planet. The Chicago Cubs have built the best record in baseball, and currently have a 89-50 record, 16-game lead in the NL Central, and their magic number is currently eight.
While it is an exciting time to be a Cubs fans, it might not be the most exciting time to send a Cubs game. This may anger you, since back in February when tickets went on sale you circled the what should have been important September dates as must see games. While Cubs fans could likely see the team clinch the division at home during the series against the Milwaukee Brewers (Sept. 15th-18th), with an outside chance of clinching in St. Louis (Sept 12th-14th) fans are likely to miss out of watching some of the team’s stars while they attend.
This is the double-edged sword we all have as Cubs fans. While we loved watching the team have a great August, we loved watching the Cubs build huge divisional leads, and we loved singing “Go Cubs Go” almost 90 times through the first full week of September. But with the winning came a luxury for the Cubs and Joe Maddon.
While Joe spoke just a couple days ago about player rest, mentioning that he would continue to work his planned days off schedule, he still has his competing hat on and we can expect that to change once they clinch. Maybe you will see a regular get a start, they may only get two at bats keeping him fresh for the playoffs.
Maddon knows its most important to have his biggest stars available in the playoffs, and he now has the ability and luxury to find extra days off for his starters. Once the Cubs clinch there will likely be two weeks with limited playing time from MVP frontrunner Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Dexter Fowler, Addison Russell and company. While there will be some enjoyment in seeing Albert Almora Jr or Matt Szczur or even watching David Ross get more starts in the final couple weeks of the season, you clicked Purchase Now in February to see the latter stars play meaningful games.
So plan accordingly these next couple of weeks. I know you want to see Rizzo, Bryant, Russell, Fowler, Ben Zobrist, and the rest of the crew – but know it’s a good thing that the team has this flexibility.
* Featured pic courtesy of Vice Sports
