Cubs manager Maddon tunes out social media

Like most sane major-league managers, Joe Maddon has little use for social media, and he's able to block out the incessant noise.

Less than a year after leading the Chicago Cubs to their first World Series championship since 1908, Maddon is being carved up on Twitter and other outlets.

Most of the fury is coming from the 63-year-old manager's decision to go with reliever John Lackey instead of closer Wade Davis Sunday night in Game 2 of the NLCS at Los Angeles.

With the score tied at 1 and a runner on second base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Maddon called on Lackey to replace Brian Duensing.

Normally a starter, and pitching back-to-back days out of the bullpen, Lackey walked Chris Taylor and Justin Turner followed with a game-winning home run.

That set off a social media storm, not that Maddon noticed.

"Doesn't matter," he said. "Social media, the moment I start worrying about that, I really need to retire. Second of all, that was all predetermined last night, again. Wade was not warming up to come in the game. Wade was probably just testing his arm at that point. "We had talked about it before the game. ... Wade knew that going into the game it was going to be with the save. We caught the lead, he's in the game. So whatever the narrative is, it's really a false narrative. He was not coming into that game until we grabbed the lead. He was not going to pitch more than three outs. That's it."

Davis healthy?

There was rampant speculation, mostly on Twitter, that Wade Davis was not healthy enough to pitch in Game 2 against the Dodgers Sunday night.

In Game 5 of the NLDS last Thursday, Davis threw 44 pitches over 2.1 innings to help the Cubs hold off the Nationals and advance to the NLCS.

"Listen, (Davis) just did yeoman kind of work in Washington and was not prepared to go more than three outs (Sunday)," Maddon said. "I don't understand why that's difficult to understand. And furthermore, you have to also understand it wasn't the last game of the year or the second to the last game of the year. It was about winning eight more games. All these things are factors.

"I really hope that you all understand that social media doesn't count at all. Twitter doesn't count at all. And really, as sportswriters, you should do a better job than relying on Twitter to write a story, quite frankly."

Seager update:

Still scratched from the Dodgers' NLCS roster with a sprained lower back, all-star shortstop Corey Seager is feeling better.

Seager didn't make the trip to Chicago, but could he return if the series goes back to Los Angeles for Game 6 and a potential Game 7?

"I don't see it happening right now," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "He hasn't done anything baseball specific. So, No. 1, we've got to get him in a place where physically he feels like he can play in a major-league game and endure those conditions as far as weather, to be able to come back after a game and to play the next day. So right now, I wouldn't say that we're close to that point yet."

The NL's 2016 Rookie of the Year, Seager hurt his back sliding during Game 3 of the NLDS against the Diamondbacks.

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