MLB playoff picture: What does Cardinals-Cubs mean for NL playoffs?

Game update: With their 7-3 win over the Cardinals, the Cubs have clinched the top Wild Card spot. They will host the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card round.

The 2025 Major League Baseball season enters its final weekend today.

And with three teams battling for two spots in the American League, two teams fighting for the final spot in the National League, and a host of division titles and seedings left to determine, the final weekend of play could be one for the ages.

The second game of the Saturday slate sees a pair of old rivals square off, as the Chicago Cubs host the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field. First pitch in that game is set for 2:20 p.m. Eastern. The Cubs have solidified almost every piece of their playoff picture save one, which could be determined today.

Let’s dive into Chicago’s playoff picture.

The Cardinals enter play on Saturday with a 78-82 record and have been eliminated from the playoffs. They’re playing the role of potential spoilers, but they cannot keep the Cubs out of the playoffs.

They can only make Chicago’s playoff road a little harder.

With a 90-70 record, the Cubs have already clinched a playoff spot. They are also guaranteed to be one of the top two Wild Card teams, with the San Diego Padres in the same category.

That means that the Cubs and the Padres are going to be playing each other in the Wild Card round. All that is left to determine is which team has home-field advantage for that series.

San Diego enters play on Saturday with an 88-72 record, two games behind Chicago. While the Padres hold a tiebreaker advantage over the Cubs if the teams finish the year tied -- based on intradivision record this season -- Chicago can clinch the #4 seed in the playoffs and home-field advantage over the Padres in the Wild Card round with either a win today, or a San Diego loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight.