NLDS Loss Stings, but the Cubs’ Young Core Just Got Addicted to October

It’s hard to walk out of a Game 5 loss in the NLDS to a division rival and immediately start digging for silver linings. Once you’re in the dance, the expectations shift. It’s no longer about making progress or just getting in — it becomes World Series or bust.

The Cubs fell short. No way around it. But that doesn’t change how much good came out of 2025 for this organization.

Young stars like Pete Crow-Armstrong, Michael Busch, and Cade Horton didn’t just flash potential — they established themselves as core pieces. The Cubs now have a real foundation, a young group that looks capable of anchoring a contender for years to come.

And beyond the obvious statistical breakout performances, veteran outfielder Ian Happ offered Chicago fans something else to hold onto after the season-ending loss.

He pointed out that many of the Cubs’ young players had never experienced postseason baseball before. This summer, they got a taste of the Wrigley Field feels like when October baseball returns and the Cubs are in the pennant race. That atmosphere is addicting — and it sticks with you. It makes you want more.

Happ would know. He’s lived it.

“I fell in love with this city and this fan base and being a Cub because in my first year we went all the way to the NLCS, and that was with a group that had experienced a ton of winning,” Happ told Jared Wyllys of CHGO after the Game 5 loss. “I saw that atmosphere. I saw what those guys got to see. Those playoff games at Wrigley, I knew how special it was, and I had guys, veteran guys, that told me how special it was. [They] said, ‘Hey, it’s not always greener. This is a pretty special place,’ and I really took that to heart.”

He’s right. Sometimes, before you can learn how to win, you have to take a few on the chin. The Cubs did that this year — and they’ll be better because of it.

Now that this young core has felt the electricity of playoff baseball and learned a few lessons abot what it takes, it’s on the front office to go all in and supplement this group. And it’s on the young players to take that next step forward and come back ready to swing harder — because if 2025 was the taste, 2026 needs to be the response.