After a stagnant offense led to a crushing Wild Card sweep, the star third baseman mirrors the frustration of Chicago fans by branding the 2026 season a failure.
The Chicago Cubs' season came to a disappointing end on Wednesday night.
The Cubs were swept by the San Diego Padres in the National League Wild Card Round. The North Siders couldn’t get anything going on offense in this series and had few answers against this red-hot Padres team.
In Game 1, the Cubs fell behind early after Matthew Boyd allowed two home runs to Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado in the first inning. The team couldn’t recover, as Michael King shut down the offense with a dominant performance.
In Game 2, the Cubs fell behind early again. While Chicago had some early chances, the Padres' pitching proved to be too much. The North Siders had a hard time against San Diego’s bullpen in the later innings and were eventually swept in two games.
This was an uninspiring playoff performance from the Cubs.
The best offense in baseball didn’t show up when it mattered most. The Cubs were 8-for-62 (.129 batting average) with one extra-base hit, one run, and 19 strikeouts in this series. Cubs stars Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman also went a combined 0-for-15 with eight strikeouts.
The pitching wasn’t much better for the North Siders in this series. Boyd allowed four runs across four innings in Game 1, Kevin Gausman gave up three runs across 3 ⅓ innings in Game 2, and Daniel Palencia gave up a huge two-run home run in Wednesday’s loss.
The Cubs had a very interesting 2026 campaign. Despite the injuries to Cade Horton, Ben Brown, and Justin Steele, they were still one of the best teams in baseball. They made the playoffs for the second consecutive year and finished with 85+ wins for just the second time since 2019.
However, this season was anything but a success for the Cubs. Bregman and Cubs fans are in agreement on that much, following a disappointing Wild Card Round loss.
“The goal is to win,” Bregman told reporters in the locker room after the Game 2 loss. “We didn’t play well enough to do that. So, it’s time to look in the mirror and get better. Just not good enough. We need to get better in all areas. I look at it as a failure. Need to win.”
This season was obviously a failure for this Cubs team. After making it to the National League Division Series last year, Chicago was swept in two games in the Wild Card Round this year. This now marks the ninth straight season in which this organization has failed to reach the National League Championship Series.
The regular season might have treated the Cubs well. But failing to advance past the Wild Card Round makes this season a major disappointment.
