Anthony Rizzo has absolutely insane take on how Cubs should approach the Wild Card

Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres are neck-and-neck in the NL Wild Card standings. A weather-induced doubleheader Friday for the Cubs further complicates things and drives home the point that this whole thing is coming down to the wire.

For weeks, the focus has been on clinching the top Wild Card seed. That means you host the three-game Wild Card Round, a major boon to all three teams. But in his latest podcast episode, former Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo flipped that idea on its head and offered a bold proposal.

Rizzo thinks the Cubs should clinch their playoff spot, then tank this weekend, setting up a first-round playoff matchup on the road against the Atlanta Braves. I mean, there are hot takes, then there are hot takes - and this falls in the latter category for sure.

“Home field, first the Padres, if they move on, they have the Dragon and the Brewers in Milwaukee, right? If they can go into Atlanta, three games and build real momentum and figure out a way to win that series against a really, really, really good Atlanta Braves team, then their confidence is even higher. Then they're road dogs.”

His former teammate and podcast co-host, David Ross, strongly disagreed with his take, saying the Cubs' best chance is a repeat of the 2025 postseason, hosting the Padres at Wrigley Field. He credited the fans for being able to 'get them over the hump' in big moments - and, to his point, we saw that last year in the NLDS against Milwaukee, when a raucous home crowd seemed to rattle Freddy Peralta.

Worst-case scenario would be Cubs going to Philadelphia for Wild Card

I'm OK with going to Atlanta or hosting the Padres in the Wild Card Round. The one matchup that worries me is going to Citizens Bank Park to take on the Phillies because that is arguably the most hostile environment in baseball and that's an experienced team that knows the clock is ticking.

Their starting pitching is a major strength and we all know about Kyle Schwarber's ability to change the game with one swing. All that matters right now is surviving the weekend and all the chaos that's in store with the irregular scheduling in Boston and doing what can be done to set the team up for whoever awaits them on Tuesday.

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