Chicago Cubs take the long view with starting pitching
Just because they're in first place by a lot doesn't mean the Chicago Cubs can't and won't adjust on the fly.
Five days into a stretch of games on 24 straight days, the Cubs are looking long term with an eye toward giving their starting pitchers a bit of a breather.
Before Tuesday's night's 4-3 loss - their second straight loss to the St. Louis Cardinals - the Cubs put reliever Clayton Richard on the disabled list because of a finger blister. They also optioned right-handed reliever Adam Warren to Class AAA Iowa.
Warren has done nothing wrong. The Cubs want to get him "stretched out" to make a spot start before the all-star break and maybe another after the break.
"I love it, man," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "I've been part of this before, primarily after the break. And it's worked out really well for the staffs that I've been involved with. Even if you look at the pre (break), what's going on to this point between rainouts and off-day, a lot of our guys have pitched with an extra day's rest. Now we're going through this stretch where they're not.
"I'd have to say that our starters have been pretty successful in this first half. And a lot of them have had the benefit of an extra day for a variety of different reasons. Let's keep it going. This is when it gets a little bit sticky with guys getting into this time of year leading into August-September, and you really want to make sure they are healthy and well. So we thought it was the right thing to do."
Warren is an interesting pitcher. The Cubs obtained the 28-year-old from the New York Yankees last December in a trade for Starlin Castro with an eye toward using him as both a starter and reliever. In Sunday night's game against the Pirates, he threw 51 pitches in a relief appearance.
"What he did the other night really put the whole thing in motion by having 50-51 pitches," Maddon said. "The stretch that we're in right now, with guys just not getting any kind of a blow, we just thought it was the most optimal moment to do something like this, and we are."
The Cubs do have the luxury of being in first place, but Maddon maintained that makes no difference with what they're doing.
"Regardless of your standing, you would still want to make these kinds of (decisions)," he said. "The threat is if you think we're not in good enough situation and you just keep pushing your guys, I promise you any opportunity to win is going to go away."
Jason Hammel started Tuesday and lasted 5⅔ innings, as he gave up 4 runs. Anthony Rizzo's sacrifice fly against Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead in the first.
The Cardinals got 1 run in the second and 3 in the third, 1 coming on a homer by Matt Carpenter and 2 on a homer by Matt Holliday.
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