What are your thoughts? Do you agree with him being on the bump for game 2 or do you think he is better suited for game 3 in the Windy City where the ball doesn’t fly.

28 comments

  3. Who else would you put out there? Shota is our #2 guy for the playoff rotation. Let’s get some innings and a win.

  5. The ball definitely can fly at Wrigley lol.

    I am all in favor of him getting the nod. I realize I may be a bit “old man shouts at clouds” here, but I really wish we would stabilized a four-man rotation for the playoffs. (1) Boyd, (2) Shota, (3) Taillon, (4) Rea. I don’t like the openers. I don’t like Boyd on short rest. I don’t like the piggy-back-starters who then come in and pitch in relief the day before.

    So I am all in favor of just lining Shota up and letting him rip tomorrow.

  9. I think Craig gambled in game 1 and it didn’t work like he’d hoped. He ran out a bunch of guys on short rest in hopes that we’d keep it close and we can just exhaust these dudes until late in the series/next series while letting the other starters and core bullpen guys get more rest.

    But then the runs kept coming in and he had to use way more of the bullpen than he hoped, and now we’re in a tough spot.

    Main reason I think this is because Counsell IS a good manager, and it’s the only explanation I can think of for why a good manager would have sent Boyd out there on short rest. If Shota looks good, we might see him go longer than expected. But right now I definitely think Counsell’s main concern is managing his arms.

  10. Are you just assuming it will be wind blowing in at Wrigley? Because I’m not taking that gamble

  12. I can see the argument for pitching him Game 2 and also the argument for waiting until the series is back at Wrigley.
    

    I think we just have to assume he’s going to give up some HR regardless of where the game is played.
    

    His 2025 stats in 3 combined starts against Milwaukee – 17 ⅔ IP, 12 hits given up, 7 ER, 17 SO, 3 Walks, and 3 HR given up. 2 solo shots to Contreras in his July 30th start and 1 solo shot to Turang on August 21st.
    

    He’s been pretty good in his 3 starts as you can see and only the solo shots were his issue. Hopefully he can limit the damage tomorrow and the offense can back him up.

    The offense is going to need to back him up though. They put up a 0 for him back on May 4th and scored only 1 run for him back on August 21st. Let’s hope they pad him a lead so he can give us a competitive 4-5 innings before turning it over to a rested bullpen.

  14. Kinda tough after game 1 and knowing the struggles he’s had early in games, but I think it’s probably the best option we have, to start him and hope he succeeds.

  15. I wonder if he’s been tipping his four seem. Seems like all the HRs are off that. The Boyd start hurt and now we’re here.

  16. Why not use Rea or Assad for an inning or two? I REALLY don’t get the strategy.

    Taillon > Rea > Assad > Boyd > Imanaga

    ⬆️ It seems to me that’s the pecking order right now based on recent performance. What am I missing? Theoretical metchups?

    It was totally asinine to put Boyd out there again. Wtf was that?

  17. Shota’s career ERA vs the Brewers is 5.73 in 4 starts. His ERA in Milwaukee is 7.20 in 3 starts. I’m not feeling confident.

  19. If we are going to go anywhere in the playoffs, we need Imanaga to return to form. I understand why people are nervous, but with injuries, etc. that’s just the bottom line at this point. He had a rough September, but ERA was 2.65 in August. Need a comeback performance from him if we want to stay in the series, and need the bats to wake up and score more than 3 runs in a game.

  20. Just in general it’s not time to panic. Yesterday, as awful as the first two innings were, the rest of the game was even. If we lose tmr, then it’s time to panic.

  23. Well as long as he doesn’t throw 30 pitches in the first inning and give up 6 runs we should be good

  24. I was hoping he would go with James Taillon and let Shota pitch at home in game 3 with the wind blowing in

  26. I think Shota will pitch well but not shut them out. Need to bring the bats on Monday.

  27. Really just need him to try to limit the damage for 4-5 innings. Would like to see him have a good outing because he’s an easy guy to root for and I’d like to see the Cubs/the fans not give up on him. Aside from Boyd, our pitching has largely been great. If the offense isn’t going to put up more than 3 in any game, we’re not going to be a contending team. You just can’t make a deep run expecting lights out pitching every single game and winning 3-1

Leave a Reply