The next two weeks will define the Cubs’ season. Making the playoffs is an annual goal that remains within reach, even a likely outcome. But until the first bottle of champagne is popped, the Cubs are going to have to sweat it out with the Phillies, Padres and Diamondbacks. The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney break down the state of play in the middle of September. Missing the playoffs would be an organizational failure that wastes Pete Crow-Armstrong’s likely MVP season, the best defense in baseball and the sport’s highest-scoring offense. Stay tuned.

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