Chicago Cubs: Right Call Going with Six-Man Rotation
By Jason Evans
The Chicago Cubs are going with a six-man rotation the rest of the season, and it is the correct move.
The Chicago Cubs are cruising to the NL Central title this season, something that they basically had wrapped up in May. The Cubs acquired Mike Montgomery before the trade deadline in hopes that he would help their bullpen. Instead, with the injury to John Lackey, Montgomery remained in the rotation.
Lackey returned yesterday and Cubs manager Joe Maddon is sticking with the six-man rotation for the rest of the year:
"“Right now, throughout the industry you’re hearing about fatigue and people being skipped and all that stuff,” Maddon said. “Right now our starters are pitching as well as they have all year. I would like to think if we continue along this path we’ll keep that freshness about them.”"
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Lackey is coming off injury so it may be best to ease him back into things before October. Last season Jake Arrieta reached a career-high innings total. The 30-year-old threw 229 regular season innings, then threw another 19.2 in the playoffs, blowing past his previous high of 156.2. This year, he’s at 174. Through May, his record sat at 9-0. Since? 7-6. His second half ERA this year is 3.17. His strikeouts have dipped below one per inning.
Jon Lester struggled in July to the tune of an ERA over 7.00. Since then, he was 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA in August and pitched a complete game in his first start in September. The 32-year-old has been through postseason runs before.
If the Cubs are going to win the World Series, they need Arrieta, Lackey and Lester to be at full strength for a postseason run. If they lose a couple of games down the stretch because Montgomery is starting over Lester for a game or two, then so be it. The Cubs need to focus on preparing for the playoffs during the last month of the season, and players’ individual goals like pitching 200 innings should be put on the back burner.