We can all kind of assume that pretty much anyone who can pitch will be available for the Chicago Cubs in Saturday’s Game 5 of the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers. Matthew Boyd stepped up on Thursday night and tossed 4.2 scoreless innings, erasing his Game 1 disaster in Milwaukee. Cubs’ fans have been wondering who Craig Counsell will hand the ball over for a chance to advance to the NLCS and on the eve of Game 5, there’s one rumor that points to a major shift in strategy for the Cubs.
Left-handed starter Shōta Imanaga has pitched twice in the postseason, but neither time has he looked dialed in. He threw four innings in the second Wild Card game against the San Diego Padres and gave up a two-run homer to Manny Machado en route to a 3-0 Cubs loss. Imanaga did not start that game as Counsell instead decided to use reliever Andrew Kittredge as an opener.
Then, in Monday night’s Game 2 against the Brewers, Imanaga could not protect a 3-0 lead in the first inning as he allowed a three-run homer to Andrew Vaughn. The lefty also gave up a go-ahead home run to William Contreras in the third inning and was taken out after a Christian Yelich single. Including the regular season, Imanaga has now surrendered at least one home run in 11 consecutive games, 18 total HR in 62 innings.
The strategy heading into Game 2 of the Wild Card series was to limit Imanaga’s matchups against the top of San Diego’s lineup, but after his blowup against the Brewers ESPN 1000’s Marc Silverman is hearing that the Cubs may not use Imanaga at all in Saturday’s decisive Game 5 in Milwaukee.
“What I have heard today from people inside that building is that there is very, very little chance that Shōta will see the mound for Game 5. Jesse (Rodger) told me that if he doesn’t start, he’s not going to pitch. He’s not going to come out of the bullpen. Maybe in an emergency situation, where they absolutely need someone if it’s extra innings and they need to get a lefty.”
Silvy goes on to say that we should expect to see Colin Rea for two or three innings and then play the matchups the rest of the way.
Counsell has not named a starter as of yet on Friday night. The Cubs manager said everyone except for Boyd will be available.
There’s really no secret to how Counsell wants to manage the final 4-5 innings of the game. Of course, getting a lead early is imperative. Expect to see Daniel Palencia, Drew Pomeranz, Caleb Thielbar, Andrew Kittredge and Brad Keller all deployed if the Cubs are ahead. Now, the attention shifts to who will get through the first part of the game. If it is Rea, who comes in after if it’s only the third inning?
And if Imanaga truly is off the table, then that’s a huge bummer for him. However, at this point you have to be confident in your choices, be decisive and go with the guys you think can get 27 outs. I’m not really sure there’s one good option over another, but it’s obvious that if the Cubs have any chance of winning the series, then they have to limit any huge damage early on. Imanaga’s had home run issues and first-inning issues for a while, so it’s not hard to see why he may be out of the equation on Saturday.
As for the Brewers, Pat Murphy also has not revealed Milwaukee’s Game 5 starter.
