SAN DIEGO — The Chicago Cubs are again turning to left-hander Matthew Boyd to begin their postseason.
Boyd, who got the Game 1 start in last year’s wild-card series against the San Diego Padres, will again get the ball when the Cubs open their rematch Tuesday, this time at Petco Park. The Cubs also could have started right-hander Kevin Gausman but opted for the lefty. Boyd held the Padres to one run in 4 1/3 innings in Game 1 last season at Wrigley Field.
“The first two months of the season were certainly interrupted and not smooth, but since then he’s gotten into a routine and consistency, that is what I think Matthew offers,” manager Craig Counsell said Monday after their team workout. “Playoff starts are a challenge. Matthew’s experienced in that and had good experiences last year with it for us and look for him to do the same tomorrow.”
Since returning from meniscus surgery June 25, Boyd posted a 3.42 ERA in his final 17 starts, allowing three earned runs or fewer in 12 of those outings.
Counsell didn’t provide specifics on who could start Games 2 or 3, the latter if necessary Thursday. Gausman is expected to pitch at some point in the series. His left shoulder injury sustained in his final regular-season start Wednesday created some uncertainty about whether he would be available this playoff round. The Cubs feel Gausman’s shoulder is trending well but isn’t fully in the clear, making a Tuesday start not a realistic option.
The Cubs are expected to carry 12 pitchers on their wild-card roster. Left-hander Shota Imanaga is also expected to factor into the Cubs’ pitching plans this series, though Counsell cautioned he didn’t know whether that would be as a starter or a reliever. Right-hander Clay Holmes wasn’t at his best down the stretch, but the Cubs anticipate him providing bulk in some capacity this series, whether that’s in a start or multiple innings out of the bullpen.
The best-of-three series allows Counsell to fully deploy all his pitchers as needed, whether it’s using starters out of the bullpen for multiple frames or even one-inning appearances. The Cubs will seek the best matchups and pockets of hitters for their pitchers to face.
“I look at these games kind of in this context that we’re talking about the urgency is you have 27 outs, we’ve got to figure out how to get 27 outs,” Counsell said. “The order that that happens — starter, reliever, closer, setup man — those words don’t matter. We’re just trying to get 27 outs.”
The Cubs’ pitching plans beyond Game 1 will be dictated by whether they win or lose the opener. It’ll be all hands on deck Wednesday for Game 2 if they don’t pull out the win Tuesday.
“It doesn’t matter how anything happens tomorrow, like aesthetically, it just matters that we win, that’s the bottom line,” Counsell said. “Because we’ve got to win two games in the next three days and so how anybody does, how anything happens, it doesn’t matter. You’ve got to win the game. And I think you probably lean more on the process over 162 games because you have to. But when you get to a two-out-of-three series to play the next game, your thoughts have to change a little bit.”
In a rematch of last year’s wild-card matchup, a venue change presents an added challenge for the Cubs against a Padres team with one of the best home records in baseball — 51-30 at Petco Park this year compared to 40-41 on the road.
The Cubs haven’t decided yet whether Alex Bregman is feeling well enough to start at third base or if they keep using him as the designated hitter to reduce the risk as he continues to play with multiple facial fractures. He took grounders at third base during live batting practice Monday, an encouraging development.
Bregman’s quick return gives the Cubs’ lineup added juice.
“I definitely think that fires you up,” Pete Crow-Armstrong said Monday. “Knowing him and how wonderfully crazed he is just about his work and how much he loves the game, not really surprising. Not to put a damper on how cool it is that he is coming back after eight facial fractures and whatnot, like, I’m just not surprised. He lives for this kind of baseball.”