October 16, 2015 Daily Herald Chicago Cubs Like Their Options At
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
October 16, 2015 Daily Herald Chicago Cubs like their options at top of rotation By Bruce Miles The Chicago Cubs figure they can't go wrong either way. Ten months ago, they signed left-hander Jon Lester to be their ace pitcher to start games like the opener of a championship series. Jake Arrieta, though, wasn't about to give up his title of staff ace, and he won 22 games during the regular season plus 2 more so far in the postseason. So what's a manager to do? Enjoy the best of both worlds, that's what. Cubs manager Joe Maddon announced Thursday that Lester will start Game 1 of the National League championship series Saturday with Arrieta going in Game 2. Really, it doesn't make all that much difference, as both will get two chances to help get the Cubs to the World Series. The real benefit may come from getting Arrieta an extra day of rest. "It kind of played out well," Maddon said. "I'm really comfortable with them both being starters in two games, possibly. That's what we're most comfortable with." Arrieta is far into uncharted territory as far as innings pitched goes. Including 2 starts in the postseason, he has thrown 243⅔ innings. His major-league best was 156⅔, set last year when he emerged as the ace of the Cubs' staff. In the postseason, Arrieta tossed a complete game last week in beating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the wild-card game. He looked somewhat mortal Monday in Game 3 of the division series, giving up 4 runs over 5⅔ innings. So although Saturday would be Arrieta's normal day to pitch, he's getting one extra day. Lester, on the other hand, has not pitched since Oct. 9, when he worked 7⅓ innings in a 4-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of the NLDS. Lester will address the media Friday. Arrieta seemed on board with the idea before the Cubs worked out Thursday at Wrigley Field. "I'm human," Arrieta said. "The tempo and the rhythm wasn't right (in Game 3). Some of the command issues were pretty uncharacteristic. It happens. We were able to get the win. I was able to keep us there and keep us in the game." Even though Arrieta is one of the best-conditioned athletes in the game, he said the importance of his last 2 starts might have taken an emotional toll and maybe gotten him out of whack mechanically. "Physically, I'm fine," he said. "I think the playoff atmosphere can drain you of energy mentally, and you spend a lot of brain power throughout the day contemplating things, thinking about different scenarios. And it can be taxing. Sometimes it will translate into some physical fatigue. "Being able to understand how to handle these playoff atmospheres and situations, especially leading into the game, is going to do me a lot more good going into the series." Arrieta said preparing for a postseason start begins well before the game starts. "Early in the day, yes," he said. "You're trying to conserve energy, but almost anytime you start to think about the game, your approach at the way you're going to attack that lineup, you're starting to expend some energy. "I would catch myself (with) the heart rate starting to go up throughout the day, even when I was kind of hanging out. Those are things you learn how to control. You try to stay calm and try to stay in your pregame routine. "It's hard to control sometimes, when you're in atmospheres like this. It's a good thing." Maddon also cited the emotional component with Arrieta. "I think we've been pushing him pretty hard," the manager said. "His innings are way up compared to what they've been in the past. I've talked this before, primarily with relief pitchers. It's beyond the physical drain; it's the emotional drain. He went through a really difficult moment in Pittsburgh that night and set this whole thing up for us. "Anytime you can give a guy an emotional and physical break, you take advantage of that right now. I would almost bet that he would say that he's fine, and I'm sure he is, but I kind of like it this way." -- Daily Herald Hamstring strain sidelines Russell for NLCS By Bruce Miles The Chicago Cubs have a roster decision to make after announcing that starting shortstop Addison Russell will miss the National League championship series with a hamstring injury. Russell suffered the injury in Game 3 of the division series against the St. Louis Cardinals as he strained his left hamstring running out a triple. The Cubs said Thursday the strain was "moderate." Javier Baez, who hit a big 3-run homer in the clinching fourth game of the series, will replace Russell in the starting lineup in the NLCS. The question now is who takes the roster spot of Russell. The best guess is that the Cubs will go with speedy outfielder Quintin Berry, who can pinch run in a key spot. Russell, a rookie who came to the big leagues April 21, has been a big part of the Cubs' success this year. "We'll continue to work on him," manager Joe Maddon said. "Hopefully if everything plays properly and we have another opportunity to play another round, he might be available at that time. But for sure not this one. "He's such a mature kid. The conversation was easy. He got it. I think he was a little bit relieved in the sense that he did not have to push it right now." Putting it on the board: There was still a lot of talk Thursday about the home run hit by rookie left fielder Kyle Schwarber in Tuesday's Game 4 of the NLDS against the Cardinals. The ball landed atop the videoboard in right field. The Cubs encased the ball in glass, and it will stay there, at least for the foreseeable future. "I'm not focused on the home run ball," Schwarber said. "I'm focused on the next series and getting our bodies right." Joe Maddon was all for leaving the ball on the board. "Whoever thought of it, it's pure genius," Maddon said. "I heard about it, and I was like, 'I hope they put casing around it and don't move it.' That's exactly what happened. The way tradition and lore are dealt with around here, that could withstand the test of time. "Now you have to definitely keep that scoreboard intact, right? If there's any consideration of doing anything differently, you've got to keep it there now." Not playing favorites: The Cubs were not scheduled to leave Chicago until Friday morning after finding out late Thursday if they were headed to Los Angeles or New York for the NLCS. "Of course we had a good record against the Mets this year," manager Joe Maddon said of the Cubs' 7-0 mark against New York. "But they're a pretty different team than we had seen earlier. The Mets have outstanding starting (pitching) and a lot of power pitching across the board. "The Dodgers have the two-headed monster (pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke), although their other starters are good, too. I don't know what the Mets look like right now. I know what they looked like a couple of months ago. "The Dodgers present a lot of veterans. I'm talking about experience. If it comes down to which team I prefer, neither. Either one's fine. I've really have learned not to play that game." Maddon said it all comes down to one thing anyway for his team. "At the end of the day, play our game," he said. "Regardless who you're playing, the Cubs have to play like the Cubs play. We have to pitch well. We have to catch the ball. We've hit some home runs lately. We've played some other parts of the game better." -- Daily Herald Soler ready to do some damage for Chicago Cubs By Scot Gregor Jorge Soler is on the move, and the Cubs are moving on in the National League playoffs against the New York Mets. While he was not solely responsible for the Cubs' success against the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL division series, Soler's potent bat and strong throwing arm were significant factors. Let's start with the arm. While the 23-year-old rookie has had his share of misadventures in right field this season, his arm is strong and accurate. Rallying in Game 4 of the NLDS on Tuesday at Wrigley Field, the Cardinals tied the game at 4-4 with two outs in the sixth inning on pinch hitter Brandon Moss' RBI single to right. Catcher Tony Cruz, who cut the Cubs' lead to 4-3 with a run-scoring double earlier in the sixth, also tried to score on Moss' hit. "We needed to test the outfield," said St. Louis manager Mike Matheny. Instead of taking a 5-4 lead and possibly sending the series back to Busch Stadium for Game 5, the Cardinals were burned by Soler's perfect one-hop throw to the plate that catcher Miguel Montero gloved to tag out Cruz. Soler's big defensive play changed the momentum of the game, and solo home runs by Anthony Rizzo in the bottom of the sixth and Kyle Schwarber in the seventh sparked the Cubs to a 6-4 victory.