Banks-Williams

On Wednesday the Cubbies will have a much better opportunity to win because the starting pitcher is a given: Jameson Taillon. Good thing Craig Counsel did not have much of a choice in the matter or he might arrive at the crazy idea of pitching Boyd on three days rest. While that notion was averted for game 3, the loss at game one cannot the undone. Nor can his decision to take Assad off the roster, in favor of the leading cookie tosser, Shota Imanaga, be undone. I know I’m using tough talk here, but it is not from hindsight. And it was crazy to think Boyd on three-days-rest could pitch better than Assad on five. In fact, he probably wouldn’t pitch better than Assad on 5 days rest. When Boyd pitched 4 1/3 innings on 9/30, he gave up one run and 4 hits while walking one and striking out only two. In contrast, Assad on 9/28, pitched 5 1/3 innings against the same team, struck out 6, walked only one, and gave up 0 runs with 3 hits. Looking at these numbers, who should be your starter on 10/4? The better pitcher with 5 days rest, or the guy who’s not throwing as well with 3 days rest? Counsel choose the latter, Then for an encore, he takes the guy who is pitching good and who is rested OFF THE ROSTER! And he has the top HR man start game 2. And what happens? Two home runs in 2 2/3 innings. Hello McFly? Good thing Counsel does not have a choice for the game 3 starter. The Cubs thus will have a good opportunity to win.

There actually were four good pitchers going into the NLDS: Rea, Taillon, Assad, and Brown. Counsel took the worst of all options, opting to go with Boyd (who was starting to exhibit troubles) on only 3 days rest. I said that would be a disaster and it was. Then Counsel started his worst starter at the time, Imanaga, who I also said would be a disaster, and it was. Using Boyd and Imanaga was a decision based on HOPE. You don’t speculate during the NLDS. You do that during the regular season. The NLDS is not an experiment. Funny that little ol’ me can see the wrong thing but Counsel cannot. As I’ve said, the NLDS rotation should have been Assad - Boyd - Rae - Taillion - Brown. You’d have fully rested pitchers only being seen by the Brew hitters once or two at bats, maybe three. And you wouldn’t exhaust much of the bullpen in 2-3 games.

Craig Counsel should be fired. His decisions to pitch Boyd on game 1 with 3 days rest and to pitch Imanaga on game 2 with inoperative breaking balls have both been disasters. These decisions will likely cost the franchise the NLDS. Any one with any measurable degree of good judgement and attention skills knew the outcomes here. As I said before, a fully-rested Assad is better than a 3-day rested Boyd any day of the week and twice on Sundays. With respect to Imanaga, his recent outings have all been terrible. The media has been talking about it excessively, but even then Counsel still couldn’t see that there is something wrong with Imanaga. The NDLS is NOT the time to experiment or assess your players. Imanaga or Soroka should have been cut from the roster, not Assad. The NLDS starting pitching rotation should have been Assad - Boyd - Rea - Taillion - Brown. This way, the Brew would never see the same starter twice, and everyone would have been fully rested. Counsel could even have given Brown game 2. And Counsel never should have been playing the same position players thoughout July and August. The men got too tired in the summer heat; it cost them first place. Durocher made the same mistake in ‘69. Counsel was too focused on himself, dying his hair and giving legions of meaningless interviews.

Why has Colin Rea not pitched? The Cubs have played four games and he hasn’t made a single appearance. His last two starts he has around twenty strikeouts he’s been good as of late so I don’t know why Craig Counsell hasn’t pitched him once. I really don’t get his logic.

Need a fast guy for lead off. PCA would be great if he could stop swinging at everything. I’ll never forget when he swung at a pitch that hit him.

If Imanaga goes bad, do you think Counsel will accept responsibility? I think not. I’ve never seen him do it. In fact, he never once mentioned that his decision to play his starters thoughout July and August had anything to do with the Cubs losing so many games they dropped deeply into second place.

Yes it is a skill. It is called “keeping your cool under pressure”.

I like what you say. Just to be clear, I wasn’t saying Taillion should pitch today. I was saying all three of those should pitch before Shota. He’s giving up too many runs now; lots of back-to-back hits. Assad is the best (in nearly the whole MLB in fact) at keeping runs from scoring with men on base. And if there is one thing the Brew is good at, it is “putting men on base”. Counsel’s decision to take his most-rested starter off the roster is going to haunt him throughout this series. He needs to spend less time dying his hair and giving interviews and more watching his players. He played tired men too much post All Star break.

Looks like Counsel is going to go with Imanaga for game 2. Another big Counsel mistake. Imanaga should NOT be starting before Rae, Taillion, or Assad. He gives up too many homers and doubles. And he doesn’t have as much rest as Assad. Counsel messed up when he took Assad off the Roster.

Well … Craig Counsel not only single-handedly put the Cubs into 2nd place, but he also single-handedly cost them game 1 in the NLDS and probably another game or two since he used half the bullpen and does not have Assad. Counsel has no clue when it comes to evaluating his own players. First he puts them into second place by playing the same players everyday in the hot summer months of July and August. Then he thinks Boyd is Superman who can pitch against a fully rested team, which happens to have the best record in the MLB on only three days rest. And to top it off, he cuts his most rested starter from the Roster. If Assad pitched game one, the outcome surely would have been far better. No way Boyd on 3 days rest is better than Assad on 7.