On the penultimate Friday of the 2025 MLB regular season, all teams but two have nine games remaining (the Twins and Guardians have a doubleheader Saturday to make up a previous postponement).
Thus it’s now pretty straightforward to look at the Cubs and other National League contenders, because all the teams involved have nine games remaining.
While the Diamondbacks, Reds and Giants (and even, marginally, the Cardinals) still have a chance at the third wild-card spot currently inhabited by the Mets,
none of those teams can catch the Cubs for the top wild-card spot they currently hold.
So for this article, I’m concerning myself only with the Cubs, Padres, Mets and Dodgers. Why the Dodgers? Well… you’ll see.
Here are the remaining schedules for those four teams. Home games in boldface.
Cubs (6 home, 3 road)
at Reds (3), Mets (3), Cardinals (3)
The Cubs face just one more team that’s currently over .500, the Mets. The Mets did take two of three from the Padres this week, which helped the Cubs out. The Cubs’ magic number to clinch home field for a Wild Card series is 5 — meaning that the Cubs can do it themselves by going 5-4 the rest of the way.
Padres (6 home, 3 road)
at White Sox (3), Brewers (3), Diamondbacks (3)
Cubs fans are in the unusual position of rooting for the White Sox this weekend. The Sox were 8-2 in September before they got swept by the Guardians and Orioles, so that September record is now a pedestrian 8-8. Former Sox pitcher Dylan Cease starts the series opener for the Padres Friday on the South Side.
The Brewers might have clinched the NL Central title by the time they face the Padres Monday. If that’s the case we’ll see how they approach the series.
Mets (3 home, 6 road)
Nationals (3), at Cubs (3), at Marlins (3)
The Mets looked like they were going to run away with the NL East in mid-June — they were 45-24 and up by 5.5 games. Since then they are 34-50, and in the NL only the Nationals and Rockies are worse.
The Mets are just 31-44 away from Citi Field this year and have lost their last six road games. That does not bode well for their season-ending trip to Wrigley Field and Miami. The Cubs have played well at home and Miami has won seven of their last eight.
The Mets lead the Diamondbacks and Reds by two games and the Giants by three. They hold the tiebreaker over the Giants, the Reds have the tiebreaker over the Mets and New York’s tiebreaker with Arizona is TBD. It’ll be an interesting last nine games.
Dodgers (3 home, 6 road)
Giants (3), at Diamondbacks (3), at Mariners (3)
I put the Dodgers here because they lead the Padres by three games for the NL West title with nine to go, and L.A. has a not-easy finishing road trip at Arizona and at Seattle. The Dodgers are 36-39 on the road and 11-17 away from Dodger Stadium since the All-Star break.
It won’t be easy for the Padres to overtake the Dodgers — and L.A. holds the tiebreaker — but after anticipating a Wild Card series against the Padres, wouldn’t it be weird for the Cubs to suddenly be hosting the Dodgers instead? The Cubs’ magic number to clinch a better record than the Dodgers is 8, and they hold the tiebreaker.
