The Cubs’ postseason ended before October really got going, and the numbers told the story. Chicago was swept out of the National League Wild Card series by the San Diego Padres in two games, and the offense managed just one run over the entire series. That leaves the Cubs with plenty of time to sit with what went wrong - and to watch a few familiar faces keep producing on much bigger stages.
Three former Cubs have stood out in October, each offering a different reminder of what Chicago did not have when it mattered most.
Kyle Tucker is the headliner here. After a rough regular season, the right fielder has caught fire in the postseason for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Through six games, Tucker is hitting .300/.391/.500 with an .891 OPS, along with one home run, two RBI, two stolen bases and a double. Tucker spent the 2025 season in Chicago, where his year broke sharply into two halves.
The Cubs then let him leave in free agency for the Dodgers on a four-year, $240 million contract. He struggled in his first year in Los Angeles, but October has brought a turnaround, and it’s the kind of run Chicago would have loved to have had in the Wild Card round.
Kyle Schwarber has been just as impossible to ignore. The former Cubs slugger, who played in Chicago from 2015-2020, delivered a strong Wild Card series for the Philadelphia Phillies even though his team also got bounced.
In three games, the 33-year-old hit .364/.462/.636 with a 1.098 OPS, one home run and one RBI. His solo shot in Game 2 helped spark a late Phillies comeback victory, a swing that only made the Cubs’ thin offensive showing look worse by comparison.
Chicago non-tendered Schwarber after the 2020 season, and that decision still hangs around as one of the franchise’s biggest missed opportunities.
Then there’s Trevor Megill, now closing games for the Milwaukee Brewers. The right-hander made his MLB debut with the Cubs in 2021 and posted an 8.37 ERA with 30 strikeouts that year before being claimed on waivers by the Minnesota Twins the next offseason.
Since then, he’s become a reliable late-inning arm for a division rival. In this postseason, Megill has thrown 4.1 scoreless innings across four appearances and picked up three saves.
For a Cubs team that entered October without a closer it could fully trust, that kind of stability is exactly what was missing.
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Seattle could be part of that conversation again, and Chicagos willingness to deal from its prospect pool may determine how serious it gets. The idea of moving a young bat such as Matt Shaw or Pedro Ramirez would speak to the cost of chasing pitching, while Kirby stands out as the sort of controllable arm who fits the Cubs timeline even if he would still require some development. The fit is obvious enough, but the price and the level of patience needed could decide whether this remains a rumor or becomes the next big winter swing. [Read more 🡒]