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No one is going to say that Yu Darvish was dominating the Braves lineup and he was starting to give up hard contact, but after the first five games it’s pretty obvious that no one can be trusted in the Cubs bullpen. Yet, in the fifth inning down only 1-0, Joe Maddon decided to pull Darvish from the game after giving up a leadoff double and a walk.
Carl Edwards Jr. came in and promptly walked a batter to load the bases, threw a wild pitch and then walked a second batter. Then, Tyler Chatwood came in.
Kakes at your service 💪#ChopOn pic.twitter.com/YvHVmlJks5
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 5, 2019
Another run scored later in the inning to make it 6-0 Braves. Mike Montgomery allowed three runs in two innings as well before the Cubs scored four runs in the ninth inning.
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Darvish was taken out after only 71 pitches and again it makes zero sense why Maddon didn’t let him try and get out of the jam, as he already had a few times in the game. But obviously the bigger issue here is that Darvish at that point in the game was a much better option to get outs than anyone coming in from the bullpen.
So, why did Maddon pull Darvish?
2) Maddon after being asked if Darvish weakened some: “He could have continued. He was not weak. He actually pitched really well. Part of it is I wanted to get him out while he was pitching well. I wanted to make sure he left the game feeling good about himself.”
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) April 5, 2019
C’mon, Joe, what are we doing here? Yu Darvish doesn’t have to be coddled and you can make the argument that if anything not showing confidence in Darvish to work around some trouble actually hurts his confidence.
3) Guess answered it there. Wanted Darvish to feel good about his night. Darvish said he wanted to keep going.
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) April 5, 2019
The Cubs are off to their worst start since 2012.
Listen to our latest episode of the Pinwheels And Ivy Podcast. Trying not to panic, but it’s been a shit show six games in. By the way, Carl Edwards Jr., time to go to the minors.
