If the Chicago Cubs don't make the playoffs this year, everyone is going to look back on this season with "what ifs?"
What if they hadn't gotten so banged up at the start of the season?
What if the front office had firmly addressed their bullpen issues?
What if they had just been able to scrape out a few of their close losses?
But, to the credit of everyone involved with the Cubs, nobody in the clubhouse or organization has hung their head and punted on the year.
Chicago is making a late push, winning the second-most games in the month of August (18) that trailed only their division rival Milwaukee Brewers and the superstar-laden Los Angeles Dodgers.
Recently, everything has been clicking for this team, including a prolific stretch on offense where they are putting up franchise-historic numbers.
On Sunday, they capped off their second consecutive series sweep with a 14-1 drubbing of the Washington Nationals, marking the fourth time in their last eight games they had scored 14 or more runs in a game.
With that came the most runs they have scored in a 10-game stretch since 1930.
This could very well be too little, too late for the Cubs as they still trail the Brewers by nine games for the division lead, but they have at least given themselves a shot to steal a Wild Card spot as they are now just 3.5 back in that race.
Chicago was always seemingly capable of doing this.
Even when they were dealing with injuries at the beginning of the year, they were contending for the top spot in the NL Central and even held a lead at one point before the wheels fell off.
The Cubs are a much better team than what they have shown this season.
That's evident by what they are doing to close out the year, and with one of the softest remaining schedules in the league, if they are able to continue playing the way they have, then there is a chance they pull off one of the biggest comebacks that's been seen in a while.
Their next three series are going to determine whether they can turn that possiblity into a reality.
Starting off with the Pittsburgh Pirates who they just embarrassed, there's no doubt their division foe will come into that three-game slate fully focused on getting revenge.
After that, they face the AL-leading New York Yankees at home before traveling out West to face the MLB's best team in the Los Angeles Dodgers.
With a good showing over the next week-and-a-half, there is a real chance Chicago could play their way into the postseason.
