They made it to have Boyd available later in the series, but the risk was exactly what happened in the first inning today.
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They made it to have Boyd available later in the series, but the risk was exactly what happened in the first inning today.
Cubs management missed on the series roster composition, imo. Including who started today. Trying to thread the needle, and it backfired in a huge way.
I cannot be overstated how dumb starting Boyd was.
Rea should have gotten the start, or at the very least do Assad/Civale/Soroka for a couple innings each then get into the bullpen.
Pathetic pitching today from Boyd and Soroka. All you can do is flush it and try to do better Monday.
Hard disagree. It's the postseason, and pitching on short rest happens. Managing the series, you now get to pitch Boyd in Game 4 rather then have to wait until 5. IMO, the ideal rotation for this series was Boyd, Iminaga, Taillon, Boyd, Iminaga.
Must win game IMO tomorrow night and then back to Chicago.
Just some reflection I'd like for the FO this offseason.
When the season started, who would you have predicted as your starting playoff rotation? Steele and Imanaga are fair assumptions.
Did you project the Horton breakout to be your #3?
Did you project Taillon, who had a 6.27 ERA between July and August last year before finishing against strong against 4 worst teams in the NL to be the #3?
Did you project Boyd, who had never heard of Covid-19 the last time he threw this many innings, to be the #3?
Did you project to get a playoff starter at the deadline, and it just didn't pan out?
I know people are going to argue against this - "Taillon has been a stud" I agree! "You can't project the Steele and Horton injuries!" I agree!
But bottom line, what got us in the poor starter situation in which Boyd started yesterday was just very poor roster construction. Rae has been very good this year. But you're the Chicago ******* Cubs - you should never be in a position where you have to debate whether Rae is starting a playoff game or not.
When the season started, who would you have predicted as your starting playoff rotation? Steele and Imanaga are fair assumptions.
Did you project the Horton breakout to be your #3?
Did you project Taillon, who had a 6.27 ERA between July and August last year before finishing against strong against 4 worst teams in the NL to be the #3?
Did you project Boyd, who had never heard of Covid-19 the last time he threw this many innings, to be the #3?
Did you project to get a playoff starter at the deadline, and it just didn't pan out?
I know people are going to argue against this - "Taillon has been a stud" I agree! "You can't project the Steele and Horton injuries!" I agree!
But bottom line, what got us in the poor starter situation in which Boyd started yesterday was just very poor roster construction. Rae has been very good this year. But you're the Chicago ******* Cubs - you should never be in a position where you have to debate whether Rae is starting a playoff game or not.
That's quite the presumption there will even be a game 4 or 5.
They should have started Rea like many on here discussed. Boyd then would have gone tommorrow night on a full 5 days rest instead of 3.
I still can't understand why they choose Soroka and Brown over Assad. It's still bothering me and on the verge of coaching malpractice.
Rea knows the lineup very well since he played there, they could have gone Rea for 2 or 3, then a combination of Assad/Civale/ Soroka for a couple of innings each and then go to the late inning guys on the 7th.
Pitchers normally get 4 days rest, so going on 3 in the playoffs is not a huge deal. I get it, he got shelled, but short rest was not the only reason why that happened.
Even if the series didn't go to 4, you still threw your 3 best available arms in the series, and if it only goes 4, you got your best available arm twice.
This seems like a huge mistake. Throw Rea then come back with Shota hoping he gets a friendly wind
It's suppose to be Low 60's and a 11 mph NE wind in Chicago Wednesday. Seems like would have been pretty good conditions to pitch in for him.
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In alot of situations short rest makes sense in the playoff. But Boyd hasn't pitched well in months and is clearly fatigued with his injury history in the last 3-4 years. He doesn't have dominate stuff and he's running on fumes at this point. He was always going to get shelled.
