After a frustrating stretch of baseball that put themselves at risk of missing the playoffs, the Chicago Cubs are feeling good about their club once again.
They finished out their final home series of the regular season in style, sweeping the Colorado Rockies over the weekend.
It came at the perfect time for a team that was struggling, as they're now back into the final Wild Card spot entering Monday.
The Cubs get an off-day before beginning their series against the National League's best team, the Atlanta Braves.
Chicago's bullpen will look a bit different during this series as they put their relief pitcher Brad Boxberger on the 15-day IL with a right forearm strain on Sept. 23. They called up Keegan Thompson from Triple-A to take his place on the active roster.
The 35-year-old Boxberger has spent the majority of this season on the injured list.
He was placed on the 60-day IL in May after originally being on the 15-day designation. He was activated on Sept. 8 and brought back to the Cubs active roster, pitching in five games and recording an ERA of 3.38.
Thompson has been back-and-forth between Triple-A and the MLB this season after being a major part of the Chicago bullpen last year.
This will be his third stint with the Cubs, having an ERA of 4.71 across his 19 appearances.
The 28-year-old didn't appear during the Rockies series after being called-up from their Triple-A affiliate.
He'll likely make his first appearance against the Braves at some point during this series as manager David Ross works through a bullpen that has been up-and-down throughout the year.
After being featured in 115 innings last year, the 28-year-old now has the opportunity to be a big part of the staff during the most important stretch of the season.
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