What was Craig Counsell’s message to the Cubs once the playoffs were clinched? originally appeared on The Sporting News

The Chicago Cubs clinched a playoff berth in Wednesday’s 8-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs have secured a wild card spot and sit five games back of the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.

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However, every teams goal at the start of the season is to make the postseason, and Chicago did just that on Wednesday.

So, the Cubs popped champaign after the win to celebrate their postseason berth, and manager Craig Counsell gave his team a message.

Craig Counsell’s Playoff Message

Although the Cubs led the NL Central for a good part of the season, and were in a good spot to make the playoffs all season long, that doesn’t mean the season didn’t have adversity along the way.

Counsell began his locker room speech after the playoff-clinching victory reflecting on what’s been a grinding season in Chicago.

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“It’s about the grind and how good we are at it,” Counsell said (h/t Marquee Sports Network). “It’s about how we started out at this hard place and that trip to Japan. A great trip, but a hard trip. And it kinda set the tone that we’re going to do hard things this year, and that’s how the season works.

“Guys like Dansby [Swanson] and Nico [Hoerner] and Ian [Happ]— they respond every day to that. And they celebrate each other and they love each other and that’s special.”

Happ and Hoerner are the Cubs that have been around the longest, and the veteran Swanson is in his third year in Chicago. This is the Cubs’ first playoff appearance since 2020.

“The playoffs is where the fun happens. I’m so happy for all the people in the room, the guys that are going for the first time. The goal is not complete yet during the regular season,” Counsell said (h/t Marquee Sports Network). “We want to host games at Wrigley. We want to play our first playoff game at Wrigley. That’s really important. And so we got a lot of work to do left for that. But we’re gonna have some fun today.”

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The Cubs exceeded expectations all year long, and will now return to the postseason for the first time in five years. At this point, the Cubs likely will not catch the Brewers in the division and are fighting to keep the top NL wild card spot.

The San Diego Padres are five games behind the Cubs in the wild card race, and if Chicago can hold the top spot, the Cubs would play the wild card series at Wrigley Field.

Although the Cubs took Wednesday night to celebrate the accomplishments of this season, they’re back at it on the diamond on Thursday in Cincinnati against the Reds.