CINCINNATI -- With a spot on the October stage locked in for the Cubs, the time has come for manager Craig Counsell and his staff to begin formulating rotation plans for the looming postseason scenarios. And in the coming days, it will start to become clearer who Chicago has in mind for its playoff opener.
“We’re at a point where we’ve created a game plan to be able to be flexible,” Counsell said prior to Thursday night’s 1-0 loss to the Reds at Great American Ball Park.
The way things are shaping up, the North Siders have a debate on their hands over whether a rookie such as Cade Horton should take the ball in a Game 1 setting, or whether a more experienced arm such as lefty Shota Imanaga will get that call. In a best-of-three National League Wild Card Series -- the likely situation right now -- a third starter would be filed under "if necessary."
With Thursday’s loss, the Cubs (88-65) slipped six games behind the NL Central-leading Brewers (94-59) with nine games left on the regular-season slate. Chicago has a five-game cushion over the Padres (83-70) for the top NL Wild Card spot, meaning the Cubs would be lined up to host San Diego at Wrigley Field in the Wild Card Series, beginning on Sept. 30.
In that type of all-hands-on-deck situation, lefty Matthew Boyd or righty Jameson Taillon look like the main possibilities for a decisive third game. And then there are starters Javier Assad and Colin Rea -- the latter of whom logged seven strong innings with a career-high 11 strikeouts opposite Reds flamethrower Hunter Greene on Thursday.
“It was a wonderful start,” Counsell said of Rea. “It had to be one of the top starts of his career, absolutely.”
To be clear, Counsell has not tipped his hand on the Cubs’ potential rotation plans, noting that “there’s no reason to say that” so far in advance. But the schedule seems to point to Horton or Imanaga at the front, and the manager will be counting on some pitchers from that starting group to be willing to embrace a relief role, if needed.
“I love buy-in from out-getters,” Counsell said. “Look, I think when you get to the playoffs, when you get to this time of year, guys understand. And you work really hard to get to these spots, and the game changes. Not tonight, necessarily. But when you get to October, the game changes.
“And the game changes, because [in Game 1 of a Wild Card Series], we’re two games from elimination. It changes your decisions. It just does.”
The veteran Rea did what he could to keep up with Greene (who threw a one-hit shutout with nine strikeouts), limiting the Reds to one run on four hits. The performance upped Rea's innings total to 153 2/3 on the season for the Cubs, ranking him second on the team behind only Boyd.
Counsell acknowledged that “would be a concerning number” if someone told him prior to the season that Rea would be asked to handle so many innings. That said, the manager referred to the right-hander as the “glue” for a starting staff that has weathered multiple injuries and used 13 starters (between regular starting pitchers and openers).
The Cubs lost Justin Steele for the season due to a left elbow injury that flared in April and required surgery. Imanaga, Taillon and Assad have had stints on the injured list. Michael Soroka -- acquired at the Trade Deadline to help the rotation -- was shelved with a right shoulder injury in August before recently returning as a reliever.
“It speaks to what Colin has done,” Counsell said. “And it speaks to just those around him, everybody stepping up and putting together the [innings] puzzle, so to speak. Colin’s done, really, what you hoped he’d be able to do, if necessary. And he’s capable of handling that number of innings -- we knew that.
“And you know there’s going to be injuries. Some of them were more significant, but he’s been durable. He’s taken the ball every start, meaning he’s been healthy. He’s given us quality innings. He’s helped us win baseball games.”
And just as Rea was willing and ready to move to the rotation early in the season, he is also prepared to shift back into a relief role, if asked, for the postseason.
“It’s such a long season and you need everyone to contribute,” Rea said. “Guys that we’ve got from different organizations have come in and done a great job. We’ve still got a great group of guys that we started with in Spring Training, too. Guys just willing to step up and fill any role that they need to with confidence -- that’s going to be big for us moving forward.”