Major League Baseball playoffs start tomorrow, and both Chicago teams have made the playoffs for the first time since 2020. But with major issues in how these teams are constructed and how they are playing, the Cubs and White Sox are primed for an early exit in the MLB postseason.
One of the main reasons the Cubs will have a hard time is the opponents they might face, with the hardest being the Brewers. The Milwaukee Brewers have had the Cubs’ number since beating them in the 2018 NL Central tiebreaker. This year has been no different as they won the season series against Chicago and eliminated them in last year’s NLDS.
Milwaukee has a great offense that includes all star William Contreras, Brice Turang, and Jackson Chourio. But the cornerstone of the Brewers’ success is their pitching. The main star of the rotation is Jacob Misiorowski, who has a 1.95 ERA this season. Elsewhere in the starting rotation, Logan Henderson is having a good year with a 2.34 ERA and 3.1 WAR. The bullpen continues the display of pitching dominance with players such as Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill, and Aaron Ashby. (All stats come from Baseball Reference and ESPN).
Another issue that could arise to stop the northsiders from playoff glory is how the stars of the Cubs have played in the postseason. MVP candidate Pete-Crow Armstrong last season had a playoff to forget with an .214 OBP, .185 SLG, and .399 OPS total.
The whole team only had a .288 OBP and struggled away from Wrigley Field as they didn’t win a game in Milwaukee in the NLDS last year. The whole team needs to play better when it matters most to make noise in the playoffs.
But the major problem of this Cubs team is the health and state of their pitching. Over the course of the season, the team has lost Rookie of the Year runner up Cade Horton to elbow surgery after an injury, starter Edward Cabrera for two months with a left hamstring strain, and Ben Brown for the rest of the season earlier this month with a neck injury.
Regression has also hit the Cubs pitching, with a few players taking a step back. Shota Imanaga has seen his ERA climbing up to 3.88 and has given up 34 home runs, the most in a season for him. He also regressed late last season, suggesting that his is a pattern. Jameson Tallion found his way out of Chicago after posting a 5.92 ERA and a -1 WAR and got traded to Toronto.
One of the biggest trade deadline acquisitions for the team was Ryan Zeferjahn. The addition of Zeferjahn has backfired for the Cubs, who have seen him have an ERA of 6.08 for them in only 13.1 innings pitched.
The biggest problem and possible solution for the team’s starting pitcher woes is Justin Steele, who hasn’t played in the Majors since 2025 and only started rehab on Sept. 2. Before being injured, Steele posted three straight seasons of sub-3.00 ERA. He made the 2024 All-Star team and was one of the better starters on the Cubs roster.
The White Sox also have a pitching problem, but it’s more due to the quality of the pitchers, not the injuries. The rookie season of former top prospect Noah Schultz has been disappointing with an ERA of 6.06 and a demotion back to Triple A in August.
Other pitchers such as Sean Newcomb, Grant Taylor, and Bryan Hudson have done good work in relief. Sean Burke has also been good, as he leads the team with a 3.20 ERA and more than 167 strikeouts. But compared to other teams, the pitching is middle-of-the-pack, with the White Sox hovering around 13th-17th in areas like team ERA, OBA, and WHIP.
Another thing that will likely hurt the Sox is the inexperience the team has in the postseason. The team’s average batter age is 25.7 years old, third youngest in the league. While the inexperience can help breed confidence, it can also cause the Sox to collapse as they haven’t really had the pressure of a division race or the atmosphere of a postseason series since 2021.
The last thing that will hurt the southsiders is their record on the road. Their away record is the worst for any team in the playoff hunt in the sport: 33-42 in games played away from Rate Field. If the Sox fail to win the AL Central, then they will be on the road to most likely travel to face the Houston Astros in the wild card round.
From the bullpen to the pitcher’s mound, both teams need to step up their pitching to have a real shot in this postseason race. The Sox need to keep their bats hot and hope the pitching can somehow stabilize. The Cubs really need to get their pitchers healthy and see them step up to help take the load off the offense and defense.
It has been a decade since a team from this city had a long run in the playoffs. It’s time for them to get it together and deliver this city a winner, but this doesn’t look like it’s going to be the time.
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