Rain Gives Cubs Break in Tough Schedule Stretch, Creates a Crazy August Showcase

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Rain washed out the middle game of what was slated to be a three-game series between the Cubs and Brewers at Wrigley Field Wednesday night. The contest will be made up at the front end of what is now a five-game series Aug. 18-21. Circle those dates on your calendar right now.

In one sense, this postponement will create extra pressure on the Cubs during the dog days of the late summer. With a doubleheader Monday, Aug. 18, the team now plays 14 games in 13 days in the middle of that month and 23 games in 23 days from Aug. 12 through Sep. 3. That stretch will start with a trip to St. Louis (Aug. 8-10) and Toronto (Aug. 12-14). The Cubs will come home to play a weekend series against the Pirates and that five-game bullpen-burner against the Brewers, then head back out on the road for a three-stop West Coast swing through Anaheim, San Francisco and Colorado. After they come back from that trip (with the only off day in that whole window coming between the Angels and Giants series) and host the team from Georgia for three games beginning on Labor Day, they'll be feeling the grind pretty hard.

In another sense, though, this is a welcome reprieve. Monday was their first off day since Jun. 2, and though they managed to go 7-6 over their first long stretch without a day off, they were set for another, tougher one beginning with Tuesday's game against the Crew. Instead, they get this extra breath of rest, and can take a fresh bullpen into their final game with Milwaukee; a weekend showdown with the Mariners; and a daunting seven-game trip to St. Louis and Houston.

Moreover, because Jameson Taillon is sliding back to take the start Thursday, the Brewers will have to wait at least until the two teams see each other again at the end of July for their first live look at Cade Horton. The rookie righthander can use every extra day the schedule affords, given his low volume of professional innings to this point, and keeping a pitcher away from the eyes of a divisional opponent for as long as possible is always nice. One benefit of the new schedule format is that pitchers don't have to face the same lineup twice in a short span as often. Horton has yet to see any opposing team twice, and depending on when Shota Imanaga returns from the injured list, that now looks like it could remain true well into August.

The final seven weeks of this season will be a full-fledged gauntlet for the Cubs. With this postponement and the fierce stretch it creates for them in the second half of August, the pressure to find a bit better depth for the pitching staff (and to manage that staff perfectly, avoiding losing helpful arms for as long as possible and keeping everyone at their best) rises a bit. The biggest takeaway from the rainout, though, might be just how much fun that August series at Wrigley Field will be. A five-game series between two contending division rivals is one of the most rare treats the game can give us. As long as the Cubs properly prepare for it, that quintet of games should be a chance to secure their grip on the division and gear up for the final six weeks of the campaign, with a humongous crowd and a unique energy seizing the ballpark.

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