The Cubs used their best two regular season pitchers, Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta, against the Mets in the NLCS and the team lost both games.
Now, the series returns to Wrigley with uncertain Cubs starting pitching coming to the forefront.
Neither Kyle Hendricks or Jason Hammel have pitched well enough to earn Joe Maddon's trust. In the post season, Hendricks has allowed three runs over
4 2/3 innings, and he was pulled early despite the fact the Cubs had
scored six runs behind him. Hammel found himself in a similar situation,
departing after allowing two runs over three innings in Game 4 of the
NLDS.
Maddon has been using "bullpen days" since the end of the season. But bullpen relievers are really failed starters (Wood, Cahill, Richard, etc.) Maddon has every starter except Lester and Arrieta on a short leash. Some say Maddon kept Lester and Arrieta in their NLCS games too long.
Since Game 3 is really "do or die" for the series, Maddon has to risk burning his bullpen to the ground to get a win. Part of the problem with the current roster is that for some dumb reason, Addison Russell was replaced with Quintin Berry, a pinch runner, when the team knew pitching was an issue. Dan Haren should have been added to the roster to either pitch Game 4 of the series, or be available to take long relief if Hendricks or Hammel stinks up early in their starts. This roster move could haunt the team history worst than any non-game fan curse.
Maddon is also really relying heavily on T. Wood and Cahill in middle relief. Their innings are higher than the rest of the bullpen combined.
Things would be different if the young Cubs hitters would actually hit. But the Mets invested heavily on quality starting pitchers, and the old axiom is holding true that "great pitching takes care of great hitting" in the playoffs.
