It's "action is the juice time"

The Cubs really know how to get fans fired up for the playoffs, don't they? Kyle Tucker is out with a calf injury. Petecrow fouled a ball off of his kneecap and had to leave Saturday's game early and didn't play on Sunday, and then, just to cap things off, Daniel Palencia really went through it right before our very eyes.

Palencia came into the game in a save spot and had just been handed a State Farm Insurance Run courtesy of Carson Kelly's second homer of the game. And Palenica went: homer, single, walk, triple, homer, and the woeful Washington Nationals went from a 3-1 deficit to a 5-3 lead.

But that's not all. On his first pitch to the next batter after the triple Palencia a pitch 100 MPH and parts of his shoulder landed in the 1914 Club seats behind home plate. After the game, Craig Counsell said it was a "posterior right shoulder" injury. And while that seems like it means that his shoulder has an injured butt, it just means something is injured on the back of Palencia's shoulder.

It could be something minor. But minor shoulder injuries don't usually result in a player going slamming down his glove like Ted Lilly giving up a playoff homer. And, if it does turn out to be bad, unfortunately shoulder soreness isn't often a Tommy John Disease symptom. Because believe it or not, doctors know how to fix elbows a lot better than they do shoulders.

But we can cross that bridge when we (inevitably) need to. Right now, Palencia is the Cubs' Schroedinger's Closer. He both is, and isn't, because we don't know how injured he really is.

And it's the same with Tucker. Just as he was starting to play like himself. In his last 11 games (starting with the first game of the west coast trip in Anaheim) he slashed .400/.489/.800 with four homers, four doubles and 11 RBI.

Not all calf injuries are created equal, but it is concerning that a similar injury put Jameson Taillon on the IL for six weeks earlier this year. Then again, Taillon isn't in the world's greatest shape, unless the world's greatest shape is oblong.

As for Petecrow, he didn't break his kneecap, which was the big fear, but a sore leg on a guy whose biggest asset is his speed is less than ideal. Hey, at least the Cubs can just call up Billy Hamilton to come up and do...whatever the hell he does these days.

The Cubs have 19 games to play and a five game lead for the final Wild Card spot, so getting to the playoffs isn't the concern, it's what the hell they're going to look like when they get there.

If the standings remain the same (and they very well might) the Cubs will host the Padres in the first round, with the Dodgers hosting the Mets. The winners of Cubs-Padres would advance to play the Brewers in the NLDS, the winner of Dodgers-Mets would get the Phillies.

The D'bags, Giants and Reds all finished Sunday tied, four games behind the Mets, which means the Cubs actually have a nine game lead over anyone jumping from outside the playoff picture up to take a spot from them. Blowing a nine game lead with 19 to go would be incredible. Even for the Cubs. Their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 11.

The Cubs loaded up their lineup with all right handed batters on Sunday to face the Nationals' rookie lefty Andrew Alvarez. That sounds good in theory, but in practice it means playing both Carlos Santana and Justin Turner in the lineup at the same time. That's two guys who combined are eighty years old.

Cool.

Santana did have his best moment as a Cub in the ninth inning. With one out he flied out to center fielder Robert Hassell. It was Santana's tenth at bat as a Cub, and the first time he hit the ball out of the infield.

Baby steps.

If Palencia is out for the rest of the season, it's not that hard to figure out who the Cubs should elevate to closer.