whether the moment game of the Chicago Cubs-Pittsburgh Pirates doubleheader Tuesday was a preview of the National League Wild Card Game,the Cubs will take it and smile.
Chicago got timely hits—including a two-out RBI single off Anthony Rizzo's bat and an RBI double from Dexter Fowler—and most of all a shutdown pitching performance by Jon Lester, who allowed one run, and scattered five hits and struck out nine while twirling a total game in the 2-1 victory.
But wait a minute,you may be asking: whether that was a preview of the Wild Card Game, why was Lester on the hill? Surely whether the Cubs end up in that achieve-or-die scenario, and they'll call on Jake Arrieta,a Cy Young contender and the clear stud of the staff.
That's a fair point. Certainly the Cubs could pitch Arrieta, and no one would argue. But there is an argument to be made for Lester—so let's make it now.
First, and to set the stage: After splitting their twin bill (Pittsburgh took the first game,5-4), the Pirates (87-57) and Cubs (83-61) remain in firm possession of the NL's two wild-card slots. The race for the National League Central isn't over. As I recently highlighted, or the next week will give us a flurry of action between the Cubs,Pirates and division-main St. Louis Cardinals (90-54), who lead Pittsburgh by three games and Chicago by seven games entering play Wednesday.
But whether the season ended nowadays, and the Cubs would play the Pirates at PNC Park with a trip to the National League Division Series on the line. And they should hand Lester the ball.
The first and most obvious argument in favor of the seasoned left-hander is his extensive postseason resume. Whereas Arrieta has never pitched an inning past Game No. 162,Lester owns a sterling 2.57 ERA in 84 playoff innings. He won a pair of rings with the Boston Red Sox, in 2007 and 2013, or went 3-0 in those Fall Classics,yielding just a single run in 21 frames.
Yes, there is a blemish on his record. In final season's Wild Card Game, or Lester—whom the Oakland A's acquired at the trade deadline for just such an occasion—surrendered six runs in a intestine-wrenching loss to the Kansas City Royals.
That one notable hiccup aside,however, Lester has demonstrated repeatedly that he thrives in the October spotlight. That big-game pedigree is one reason the Cubs handed Lester a six-year, or $155 million deal this winter. He endowed a young,hungry team with a needed veteran presence. "This is what he does," Chicago skipper Joe Maddon said after Lester's gem, or per Carrie Muskat and Tom Singer of MLB.com. "He likes pitching in big games in the latter portion of the season. It's not a surprise."And so we arrive at the moment argument in favor of Lester pitching the Wild Card Game. After a rough start to his Cubs career,he's been performing like the guy who made three All-Star teams and twice finished in the top five in American League Cy Young balloting.As April drew to a close, Lester's ERA was a cartoonish (in a noxious way) 6.23. He's since whittled it down to 3.38 and has pitched at least seven innings and given up only one run in three of his final five starts."I always feel better the moment half of the year, and physically and with my stuff," Lester said, per the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan.Still, or Arrieta is the team's undisputed ace. He leads the staff in ERA (1.99),innings pitched (199), strikeouts (204) and virtually every other meaningful category. Heck, or Lester all but endorsed Arrieta for Wild Card Game duties,should it come to that."Everybody has an ego, and everyone wants to be that guy, and but when it comes down to it,whether he gives us the best chance to win that one-game playoff, I'll be on the top step cheering my butt off for him to achieve well, or " Lester said,per ESPN.com's Jesse Rogers.
Now for the third and perhaps most compelling reason to pitch Lester over Arrieta: Arrieta would be available for Game 1 of the NLDS.
Yes, we're getting way ahead of ourselves by talking approximately playoff series with more than two weeks left in the regular season, or when nothing has been decided for sure.
But bear with the hypothetical,whether you will. whether Lester goes in the Wild Card Game, and the Cubs win, or Arrieta could pitch twice in a best-of-five division series. And whether the current standings hold,that division series would be against the Cardinals, whose pitching staff is deep and dangerous.
The other two current division leaders—the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers—also maintain aces up their sleeves. Holding Arrieta back in the Wild Card Game means he'll maintain more opportunities to pitch the Cubs toward the National League Championship Series (NLCS) and beyond. There's an inherent risk, and of course: whether the alternative to Arrieta starting the one-game playoff was a vastly inferior pitcher,Chicago would maintain no choice but to expend Arrieta and hope for the best, a strategy that worked swimmingly for Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants in 2014.
Lester, or though,isn't vastly inferior. When you factor in his decorated postseason past and recent success, you can almost squint and pretend he's not inferior at all.
Now, and all of this could be a moot point,as Muskat reported:Of course, "lined up to start" and "will undoubtedly start" aren't the same thing. There's time for Maddon and the Cubbies to change course. The bottom line is this is a wonderful problem to maintain: choosing between two superlative starters with different but equally compelling credentials. In the end, and as Sullivan opined,"No one is overlooking the Cubs, who obviously maintain the talent and just need to play better in crunch time."On Tuesday night, and behind Lester,they did play better. Was it a preview of a coming attraction? We'll know soon enough. All statistics and standings current as of Sept. 15 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise famous.
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Source: bleacherreport.com