2 things Cubs can't ignore with the final 10 days of the season finally here

The final 10 days, nine games, and three series of the 2026 MLB season are here, though the Chicago Cubs are certainly hoping to extend their run far beyond that.

With the NL Central already out of reach -- the Milwaukee Brewers became the first team to clinch a division title earlier this week -- this final stretch of the regular season is all about getting favorable positioning in the standings. At this point, that means grabbing the No. 4 seed and home-field advantage in the Wild Card Round.

To do so, they'll have to win a ton of games against the Reds, Marlins, and Red Sox, the former two of which are extremely winnable series against fledgling teams. Of course, the wins and losses themselves aren't the only thing fans should be paying attention to over the final week and change of the regular season.

Major Cubs storylines fans need to follow as regular season winds down

The Edward Cabrera bullpen experiment is off to a bad start

There was a lot of hype around Edward Cabrera after the Cubs traded top prospect Owen Caissie for him, and he initially backed that up with a number of impressive starts to begin his tenure in the Windy City.

Then, his long, cumbersome injury history caught up with him, and he's hardly pitched at all since June. To mitigate some of the stress on his arm (and to eliminate the need for a longer rehab process), the Cubs are trying him out in a bullpen role, but the early returns aren't promising; he surrendered a two-run homer to Drake Baldwin that put Tuesday's game against the Braves out of reach. He also walked two of the 10 batters he faced.

At this point, there's not a lot of reason to believe Cabrera is going to turn things around for October. As disappointing as this debut campaign has been, the Cubs can't continue to invest in a sunk cost by throwing the right-hander to the postseason wolves.

The Phillies may not be the juggernaut some are hyping them up to be

Though the Padres are making a spirited push for one of the top two Wild Card spots in the NL, the expectation is that the Cubs and Phillies will be meeting in the first round of the playoffs as the No. 4 and 5 seeds. The real question is: Which team will end with the better record and thus receive home-field advantage for the series?

The Phillies have stumbled to open September, going 5-8 with multiple series losses under their belts. They also just lost Jesús Luzardo to the injured list, and he likely won't be able to handle a full starter's workload even if he does return in time for the postseason.

Having to face both Christopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler in a best-of-three series is still a terrifying proposition, but drawing the Phillies in the Wild Card Round may not be quite as scary as it looked to be a few weeks ago. If the Cubs can force the series to be played in Wrigley, they should be in a good position to advance to the NLDS for the second consecutive year.

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