The Cubs went with a fairly straightforward 26-man roster for their Wild Card Series against the San Diego Padres, but there was still one notable wrinkle at the end of the list.
Chicago chose to carry 12 pitchers, which created room for an extra infielder. That spot went to Gabriel Arias, the late-season pickup who joined the Cubs on waivers August 19 after a short stop with the New York Mets. Arias spent most of his season with Cleveland, where he played the first four years of his career, and he appeared in just seven games for Chicago during the regular season.
Arias gives the Cubs another defense-first option in the infield. He has struggled at the plate for much of his career, but his utility skills helped make him a regular for the Guardians over the years. Even so, his place on the roster was not guaranteed, especially with Matt Shaw healthy and able to move around the infield.
The Cubs also showed their preference for familiar defensive alignments when Dansby Swanson was injured. Nico Hoerner handled shortstop, while Shaw and Pedro Ramirez covered second base. Arias still made the cut, bringing speed and some postseason mileage with him after appearing in the playoffs twice with Cleveland in 2022 and 2025.
The tougher call came on the pitching side, where Caleb Thielbar was left off the roster. The 39-year-old was a steady piece of the bullpen last season, posting a 2.64 ERA in 67 regular-season outings and then throwing in five postseason games while allowing only 2 hits and no runs across 3.2 innings.
This year was a different story. Thielbar finished with a 4.86 ERA in 58 games and looked more vulnerable as the season wore on.
Justin Steele was another absence, and this one had been building for a while. Recent rehab outings had opened the possibility of a late return, and Craig Counsell had previously said Steele might pitch in the final series of the season against Boston. Instead, the Cubs opted to keep him out and protect his long-term health, especially after he made only four rehab appearances.
Here is the full roster Chicago released for the series:
Kevin Gausman, Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Ryan Rolison, Aaron Civale, Daniel Palencia, Colin Rea, Ryan Zeferjahn, Jacob Webb and Javier Assad.
Nico Hoerner, Alex Bregman, Dansby Swanson, Michael Busch, Pedro Ramirez and Gabriel Arias.
Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ian Happ, Michael Conforto, Seiya Suzuki and Tyrone Taylor.
In Other News...
Craig Counsell's Game 1 Pitching Choice Says Everything About This Series
Craig Counsells first move for the Wild Card Series was a familiar one, with Matthew Boyd getting the ball for Game 1 against the Padres. It is the kind of assignment Boyd has handled before, and it fits the way the Cubs have leaned on him in recent October runs, making him one of the more trusted names in a short series where every pitching decision carries extra weight.
For San Diego, the matchup sets up immediately around right-hander Michael King, while Counsell also made clear that Kevin Gausman will be part of the pitching mix before the series is over. The combination points to a fast-moving, heavily managed matchup in which both clubs are trying to shape the early innings to their advantage, and the rest of the rotation picture still leaves plenty for the Padres to sort through as the series opens. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Just Gave The Cubs A Wild-Card Twist To Worry About
The Padres set their 26-man roster for the upcoming wild-card series against the Cubs, and the group comes with a few wrinkles that could matter right away in October. San Diego is carrying 15 position players and 11 pitchers, and the mix suggests a club trying to maximize flexibility for a short series while making sure it has enough depth to navigate matchup-heavy innings.
Joe Musgrove is back on the roster after missing the 2025 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and the right-hander is expected to work out of the bullpen after last pitching in the 2024 wild-card round. The Padres also opted to carry three catchers, while adding Andujar and Sheets and leaving Sung-Mun Song, Wandy Peralta and Randy Vasquez off the list, a set of choices that gives the Cubs a little more to sort through as the series gets underway. [Read more 🡒]
Former Padres Bullpen Star Is Calling It A Career
Kirby Yates is calling it a career after the final game of the season, ending a run that included one of the more memorable bullpen stretches in recent Padres history. His time in San Diego from 2018-19 was marked by an All-Star nod and a dominant 2019 season, when he emerged as a dependable late-inning weapon and gave the club a real anchor at the back end of the bullpen.
Yates went on to pitch for several other teams, including the Angels, Pirates, Yankees, Braves and Dodgers, with varying degrees of success before reaching this point. For Padres fans, though, his name will always bring back that peak run in San Diego, when every lead felt a little safer once he started warming up. [Read more 🡒]