For Cubs starter Matthew Boyd, who has 11 years in the big leagues behind him, most situations he faces on the mound are at least fairly familiar. But on Saturday, he is doing something he’s only done three times before in his career, and not at all in the past eight years. Boyd is taking the mound against the Brewers on just three days rest.
Boyd threw only 58 pitches against the Padres in the wild-card opener, allowing just four hits and a walk and allowing one run in 4.1 innings of a 3-1 win. Manager Craig Counsell had Boyd throw a bit on Friday, and once it was clear he felt fine, Counsell green-lighted Boyd to start on three days of rest for the first time since 2017.
“He’s going on three days, he’s going on a small number of pitches,” Counsell said. “We wouldn’t make this decision, this would not be a decision on a six-inning start or a 90-pitch start. We would not be considering this. But, yeah, I think he had his head on it, probably when he got in the dugout. Yeah, and he’s asked repeatedly about it.”
Cubs Had Quick Hook on Boyd in Wild-Card Series
Counsell said that the quick hook in Game 1 of that series set up Boyd to be ready for the Brewers as the divisional round gets underway. Boyd’s development as the ace of the staff has been a surprise this season, as he went a career-best 14-8 with a 3.21 ERA at age 34.
“I think really since Matthew came out of — probably since Matthew got to the dugout in Game 1, he was thinking about pitching this game. I think we were thinking about him pitching this game. That’s kind of how this all went down,” Counsell said
“Obviously he was up on Thursday night, but essentially that served as — he was also talking about throwing after the game if we want, and we’re like, you’re not doing that, that makes no sense.”
Matthew Boyd Struggled in Previous Start in Milwaukee
If the start against the Padres had not been shortened, Counsell said, the team would not have asked him to come back for Game 1 in Milwaukee. But Boyd–who struggled in his one start in Milwaukee this year (five runs, six hits, five walks in 5.0 innings)–was recovered and ready.
“I joked with him after the game that I got you up so you wouldn’t throw after the game here,” Counsell said. “He didn’t make an — if this was a normal start and he threw 90 pitches we wouldn’t consider this, but because he threw so few pitches he knew he was going to be able to recover, and we thought he’d be able to recover quickly.”
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