Remember, it’s not “starters” or “relievers.” It’s “out-getters.”
And you better believe Craig Counsell is going to use them all in Game 5.
Why wouldn’t he? It’s win or go home. It’s either a date with the Dodgers in the NLCS or a trip to the couch.
You’d figure everyone but Game 4 star Matthew Boyd will be available when the Cubs meet the Brewers in a winner-takes-all battle Saturday night in Milwaukee.
Colin Rea? He’s in.
“Obviously,” Rea said Thursday, asked if he’d be ready to pitch. “Absolutely.”
Jameson Taillon? He just pitched Wednesday, hardly a dealbreaker.
“I’m definitely going to be available,” Taillon said after starting Game 3. “Just depends if they want me or not. When it comes to these situations, I’ve already signed my contract. I’m not worried about going out there and letting it all hang out.”
Every arm in the bullpen? Come on down.
“I feel like final games of playoff series, it’s kind of all hands on deck,” second baseman Nico Hoerner said after the Game 4 victory. “I don’t know what our plans are at this point, but our depth, both starting and our bullpen, has been so impressive throughout this year.
“However they choose to get 27 outs, obviously I’ve got a lot of confidence in our group.”
It’s a group that dazzled in the last two games. Boyd’s 4 2/3 scoreless in Game 4 followed Taillon’s four innings of two-run ball in Game 3. The Cubs’ bullpen combined to throw 9 1/3 innings in back-to-back wins, allowing only one run and surrendering just three hits to a Brewers lineup that seemed unstoppable in Games 1 and 2.
“[The pitching staff gives us] a ton of confidence. We’re not in this situation without them,” first baseman Michael Busch said. “From our starters to our relief pitchers, it’s been fun to watch and fun to play behind. A bunch of really good pitchers, really good people, competitors.
“Can’t say a bad word about them.”
Cubs fans were raucously supportive Thursday at Wrigley Field. But they’d probably be able to find a frustrated word or two for at least one pitcher.
The outlier in these playoffs has been Shota Imanaga, the Opening Day lefty who struggled down the stretch and has carried his late-season habit of serving up untimely homers into October.
He was tagged for a game-defining Manny Machado bomb in Game 2 of the wild-card series. In Game 2 of this NLDS, he coughed up a pair of early long balls: Andrew Vaughn’s counterpunch in the first inning and William Contreras’ game-winner in the third.
Counsell already took some heat for bypassing Rea in favor of Boyd on short rest in Game 1 in Milwaukee. That decision blew up in the Cubs’ faces when the Brewers burst out of the gates and grabbed hold of momentum the Cubs couldn’t wrestle away until they were facing elimination.
Still just one loss away from a postseason exit, how big a role will Counsell allow Imanaga to play?
As playoff baseball has indicated, it might not matter whether Imanaga is good or bad Saturday. His outing might be brief regardless, especially with Friday’s day off allowing Counsell’s bullpen to catch its breath.
So expect to see Daniel Palencia again, he of Game 4’s “mid-game save,” as Counsell dubbed it.
“Never,” Palencia said, asked if the Cubs ever thought their season was toast after losing the series’ first two tilts. “We are here to play baseball. We fight.”
And expect to see Drew Pomeranz, who hasn’t allowed a base-runner in five postseason innings. Expect to see Caleb Thielbar and Brad Keller and Andrew Kittredge. Maybe expect some more from the Cubs’ cavalcade of pitching stars.
It’s Game 5. All hands on deck and all that.
“We’ve got plenty of guys. I’m sure everybody’s going to be ready for that game,” Rea said. “When our name’s called upon, we’ll be ready.”
