Otto: Cubs pitchers are looking good

Complete games for pitchers are such a rarity these days that when they do occur, it's news. At last count, there have been only 15 complete games thrown in the National League. Lately, the Cubs rotation of starters is either going deep into games, or is left standing at the end.

Jon Lester flipped up a nine-inning gem in a 2-1 Cubs win Wednesday against the Dodgers on a night when closer Hector Rondon was unavailable. Kyle Hendricks joined in on the fun by logging his second career complete game against the Phillies, then following that up with an eight-inning beauty in a 7-2 victory against the Dodgers.

Rarely does a starting pitcher get to finish what he started. With 120 pitches a common limit for starters, you have to be pretty efficient with pitches to even get close to throwing nine innings.

Assuming the math is correct, that equates to 13 to 14 pitches per inning. If a pitcher mixes in a bunch of walks early on, a complete game is out the window. In the 26 innings that Hendricks and Lester have recently thrown, there has been a single walk.

Lester has been pinpoint with all 4 of his pitches and has pounded the bottom of the strike zone. Anytime a pitcher keeps the ball low, hitters start looking for those pitches downstairs. Lester, with the help of David Ross, knows exactly when to mix it up, and throw a fastball upstairs. His last pitch against the Dodgers was a heater shoulder high to Howie Kendrick, for a game-ending strikeout.

Hendricks has been nasty with a sinking fastball and a change-up that puts the brakes on halfway to home plate. It took him only 104 pitches to get it done in his complete game against the Phillies.

Lester, Hendricks and the entire Cubs pitching staff have been the beneficiaries of some really good defense, which also plays into pitch count and the opportunity to go deep into a game. Javier Baez, Dexter Fowler and Addison Russell have made some acrobatic plays to shorten innings and save some runs.

Prior to all the information available for all to see on stadium scoreboards, pitch counts were usually tallied up by another pitcher who wasn't pitching that day. The mind tends to wander when counting pitches, and only occasionally would the pitching coach ask for the pitch count. If the pitch counter was within 20 pitches of the actual pitch count, that was a pretty good day. They say Nolan Ryan once threw 235 pitches in an extra-inning game against the Boston Red Sox. Luis Tiant was the starter that day for the Red Sox. There was no pitch counter in the Red Sox dugout, but "El Tiante" did pitch 14⅓ innings that day. For interested pitch counters, myself included, imagine a 235 flashing on the scoreboard.

If the number of pitches doesn't get a starter, there's always those hitters who dictate how long your game is going to be. Former manager Charlie Manuel once came out to the mound to take me out of a minor league game. I told him I wasn't tired, and I wasn't even close to reaching my pitch count. To that he said, "You may not be tired, but our outfielders are exhausted."

Jake Arrieta takes the ball today against the Diamondbacks. He only went seven innings last time out and didn't give up a run in that start, but he did throw 107 pitches. The pitch count got him. He'll be OK, though, because his outfielders rarely get tired.

• Dave Otto, a standout athlete at Elk Grove High School, pitched from 1987-1994 for four MLB teams, including the Cubs. A former baseball analyst for WGN Radio, FoxSportsNet and Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Otto also is a member of the University of Missouri Hall of Fame.