It all worked out, just how Cubs fans had dreamed earlier in the week when the team returned to Wrigley Field on Tuesday to find ace rookie Cade Horton well through his rehab from a fractured rib and declaring himself fit to throw without pain. Considering the team’s unappetizing option in the starting rotation, the hope was that if the team could come back with wins in Games 3 and 4 at home, they could conjure up an injury on the roster that would require a fill-in from outside the roster.
That fill-in would be Horton. The very same Horton who was 11-4 with a 2.67 ERA this season, the guy who was an ace down the stretch of the season: He went 8-1 with a 1.03 ERA, until he suffered the injury on September 23.
Having Horton on the mound might make American Family Field less of a house of horrors than it was in Games 1 and 2, when the Cubs surrendered 16 runs in the losses. At long last, Cubs manager Craig Counsell was asked about finding an injury on the roster and adding Horton to start.
He did not even let the questioner finish asking before Counsell dropped his answer like a guillotine. “No,” he said.
Cubs Still Unsure of Game 5 Starter
Sigh.
So the approach to Game 5 will be much the same approach the Cubs have had to this point. Use a starter to get the team through the first half of the game, use a mishmash of five relievers to get through the second half of the game.
Who’s going to get the Cubs through that first half? Counsell was not saying, but he has Shota Imanaga, who has struggled lately, on hand as well as Colin Rea, who is the more likely choice. Imanaga gave up four earned runs in 2.2 innings in his Game 2 start, and Rea gave up no runs in 3.1 innings in relief of Imanaga in that game.
Cubs Will Use Whatever it Takes
Counsell said it will be an all-hands-on-deck approach in Game 5, as expected.
“I think this is a game where we’re going to have everybody available, maybe with the exception of Matt Boyd. Everyone is going to be available,” he said. “It’s cliche here, but I’m going to tell you, we’ve got 11 pitchers to figure out how to get 27 outs. That’s how we’re treating it.
“We’re certainly going to need the bullpen formula that we’ve used. We’re going to have to get half the outs from not those five guys, right? And that’s how we’re looking at it, and that’s what we’re going to have to get.”
GettyCubs manager Craig Counsell.
Cade Horton Still Hoping for Return
But keep the fire burning, Cubs fans, because there is a chance the Cubs will actually win this game and move on to face the Dodgers in the National League finale. Horton would certainly pitch in that scenario.
He has been approaching his rehab as though he will be back on the mound before the month is out. “That’s the plan, so far,” he said.
Horton added: “I have been throwing off my knees and that did not seem to bother it. So, I did that for a couple days and then, you know, once I started to feel good, I started to play light catch. It just progressed from there, and everything has been smooth. So just going from there.”
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