Sure, it is easy to second-guess manager Craig Counsell after the Cubs again got drubbed in Game 2 of the AL division series on Monday night in Milwaukee, by a 7-3 count. That puts the two-game tally at 16-6 in this series in which the Brewers have simply been the much better team.
And while the logic of Counsell’s decisions on the pitching rotation in this series make some sense, the results have been brutal. The way the Brewers have been swinging, perhaps it would not matter whom the Cubs started, whether it was a healthy Cade Horton or Kerry Wood or Fergie Jenkins or Three-Finger Brown.
But the dreadful performance of Matthew Boyd on three days rest in Game 1 and Shota Imanaga against the homer-happy Brewers in Game 2 certainly raised the question: Why did the Cubs not start their best pitcher down the stretch, Colin Rea?
Colin Rea Should Have Started
That question became a lot more pertinent when Rea, who spent the two previous seasons with Milwaukee and knows the lineup well, pitched the final 3.1 innings of mop-up duty in Game 2 and allowed no runs on four hits and two walks.
Rea was 11-7 with a 3.95 ERA this season, and clearly found something down the stretch of the season. He was excellent in his final four starts, going 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA, allowing 16 hits and one walk in 23.1 winnings, striking out 29. But while the Cubs starters have struggled Counsell left Rea off the mound, except for 1.2 innings of relief work against the Padres last week.
While Counsell could say his “gut” said to go back to Boyd and Imanaga to open this series, his gut has been unreliable. Leila Rahimi of 670 The Score in Chicago said, “It’s never really your gut. It’s a matter of what data you trust the most. The gut hasn’t been correct. … Colin Rea should have been the guy in Game 1. Period.”
Cubs’ Matt Boyd Decision Went Badly
That was the sentiment, too, after Rea’s appearance in Game 2.
Wrote Chris Emma, also of The Score: “I don’t know if these are two different games if the Cubs start Colin Rea in Game 1 and a rested Matt Boyd in Game 2. But at the very least, they would’ve had a better chance. Starting pitching has cost them in Milwaukee. There were concerns all along, and they’ve been exposed.”
And the Cub Hub fan account wrote, sarcastically, “Watching Colin Rea put up zeroes should make everyone feel super duper.”
At Marquee Sports, Andy Martinez noted, “After tossing 1.2 scoreless innings in the Game 2 loss in the wild-card series, it was fair to wonder why Rea couldn’t have lined up for one of the first two games in the NLDS, especially with an off-day after the first game. Rea primarily pitches to contact and that could cause trouble against a pesky Brewers lineup, but his high strikeout rate down the stretch couldn’t be dismissed, either.
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)Manager Craig Counsell of the Chicago Cubs.
Cubs’ Jameson Taillon Gets a Chance in Game 3
Now it is up to Jameson Taillon in Game 3 on Wednesday to somehow keep the series alive. Maybe that was a bit of insult to injury for Rea on Monday–his late-game appearance with the result pretty well decided means he won’t start that game, either.
But Taillon, despite injury issues, had a strong close to the season, too, with a 2-1 record and a 1.54 ERA in his final four starts. He shut down the Padres for 4.0 innings in Game 3 last week.
Said Counsell: “The path starts — it’s a Wednesday game and it’s a Jameson Taillon good start that gets us into the game. We’ve got to get our starters into the game. That has to happen, especially if you’re going to try to win three games in four days. We’re going to have to get our starters into the game.
“J-Mo is tasked with it on Wednesday, and looking forward to handing him the ball.”
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