Chicago Cubs like their options at top of rotation

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."