The Cubs may be headed for a postseason matchup that looks manageable on paper but carries one very specific warning label: Ozzie Albies at Wrigley Field.
As the NL playoff field sorts itself out over the next week, the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres are expected to fill out the wild-card picture in some order. Seeding will decide the bracket, and while the conversation has centered on the idea of having to travel to San Diego or Philadelphia, there’s another path that should make Chicago pause - the Atlanta Braves coming to Wrigley Field for a best-of-three series.
That possibility comes with Albies attached, and his numbers in Chicago are hard to ignore.
In his career at Wrigley Field, Albies is hitting .376 with eight home runs and 18 RBIs. That batting average is the second-best of any player with at least 100 plate appearances in Wrigley Field history. He also did damage in last week’s three-game set between the two teams, finishing with three hits, including a homer, and driving in two runs.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today highlighted that track record in his weekend column, and it’s exactly the kind of detail the Cubs don’t want hanging over a postseason series. Albies has been a steady problem for Chicago over the years, and if the Braves land in the wild-card round, he has the kind of profile that can tilt a short series fast.
That said, Atlanta is not the matchup Chicago would be least interested in. The more obvious postseason headaches still sit with elite names like Fernando Tatis Jr. and Kyle Schwarber in possible wild-card series, with Shohei Ohtani also looming later on if he’s back on the IL. But the broader lesson for the Cubs stays the same: don’t let the opponent’s supporting cast become the story.
Chicago has to do what every playoff team tries to do - make someone else beat them. If the Cubs end up facing Atlanta, Albies is the name that has to be circled first. He may not carry the same national profile as some of the other stars in the bracket, but at Wrigley, he’s already shown he can do enough damage to wreck a night.
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