Rozner: The wait is on for Cubs

And just like that, the story has gone from anticlimactic division-clinching, to a World Series-or-bust narrative that will go away only if the Cubs are playing baseball in late October.

It's not a notion Joe Maddon felt like pondering over the weekend.

"If you win it all, it's all beautiful and the writing is superb and it's all perfect," said the Cubs manager. "If you don't win it all, then everyone will say whatever they're going to say.

"I'm not going down that road. We have this part done and now we start to get ready for the next part."

The first part is a division championship, which the Cubs hope is only a beginning.

Maddon has been to the World Series as a manager, with Tampa in 2008, but his Rays lost to Cole Hamels and the Phillies, and he's still trying to get back.

"We're in the playoffs," Maddon said. "Nothing else can happen until you do that. We've done that part. Now, we attack the playoffs. That's it. I understand all the conjecture, but honestly I don't worry about it.

"The great thing about this team is their ability to focus on that day's game, and I think that serves you well come playoff time. So we'll continue to do that and try to carry that into the postseason."

Whichever team the Cubs face in the first round, that club will have been through a brutal final few weeks of the season and will have survived the wild-card game.

So does that make for a battle-tested opponent or a tired foe?

"It's a great question and I think both sides of it are fair to examine," Maddon said. "I've been on both sides of that conversation.

"You get great momentum from having fought to the end and made it, but I also think there's a mental and physical fatigue that comes along with that. It's hard to sustain that sort of effort over a very long period of time.

"I'm sure there's examples of both going a long way and I know that because I've been through both before."

That's not Maddon's problem now. His focus is on resting his players, getting his bullpen sharp and keeping his hitters ready for October.

"You want to balance keeping guys dialed in with making sure they get off their feet and get some rest," Maddon said. "The pitchers need to keep their arms in shape, too, but if it looks like someone needs a day or two, that's something we can do."

Maddon said that there is no one set of rules for how they handle the next two weeks of games and then four days off before the NLDS begins at Wrigley Field on Oct. 7.

"We'll be looking at some different things," Maddon said. "You have to remember, too, that guys want to play. They're baseball players and they don't like sitting around during a game, so we'll be looking to find that balance with rest and activity."

Of their 13 remaining games, the Cubs have seven left with the Cardinals and Pirates, two teams still fighting for a wild card spot, so those games will not lack for playoff intensity.

"You don't want anyone to lose their edge," Maddon said. "You want guys to rest for sure and get a break from the mental side of it, but then you get it ramped up again as you get close.

"I just like the makeup of this group and they've had one thing in mind all year, so I don't worry about guys being ready to go."

The waiting, in this case, should not be the hardest part.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's "Hit and Run" show at WSCR 670-AM and follow him on @BarryRozner on Twitter.