Cardinals’ Shildt shuffles rotation while Cubs’ Maddon preps for ‘glorified spring games’
Major League Baseball’s managers form an elite fraternity, and the bond between them is forged from a respect so strong that none would ever willingly lie down for another.
That’s why, when the Chicago Cubs’ manager-for-now Joe Maddon explained his weekend lineup strategy to reporters in Pittsburgh on Thursday, it caused such a stir.
“Of course they’re going to [complain],” Maddon said, “and I get it, but quite frankly, there are certain things I really don’t give a [care] about, and that would be one of them.”
Craig Counsell and his Milwaukee Brewers enter the weekend one game behind the Cardinals as the two joust for the crown in the National League’s Central Division. Maddon’s decision to shut down several injured regulars — including Anthony Rizzo, Javy Báez, and Kris Bryant — is easy to defend in the context of the players’ injuries.
Sitting down healthy players is harder to explain and opting to skip over starting pitchers Yu Darvish and Kyle Hendricks in favor of Alec Mills (Friday), Cole Hamels (Saturday), and a bullpen game (Sunday) seems to be a full-on wave of the white flag.
The Cubs did opt to insert all of their healthy regulars — save for center fielder Jason Heyward — into Friday’s lineup. Outfielder Nick Castellanos was a late scratch with a groin injury, though catcher Willson Contreras and second baseman Ben Zobrist remained in the lineup as expected.
Maddon was unrepentant on Friday night, calling Friday a “glorified spring training game” and defending his comments in the context of taking care of players who are injured.
“If you were there to understand exactly what I was talking about, I don’t think there was any pushback necessary,” Maddon explained. “These guys are hurt, and I’m not gonna play hurt people. I’m not gonna pitch guys that are over limits based on what’s best for the Cubs, ever.
“So the conclusion of my commentary yesterday was, pretty much, understand these guys are hurt. So if you want to cry and complain, then go ahead and do that.”
The drama hasn’t reached the Cardinals’ clubhouse.
“We haven’t been [reacting to opponents] all year,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “We respect and prepare for our opponents, but as far as what they do and how they do it, we’ll be ready to compete regardless of what the circumstances are.”
The Cardinals find themselves with a very different set of problems.
While they put their best feet forward in an attempt to win the division and avoid Max Scherzer’s looming presence for the Washington Nationals in the Wild Card game, St. Louis opted for some rotation reshuffling of its own.
Dakota Hudson will take the ball as expected on Friday, but Adam Wainwright was bumped up to Saturday’s start. That leaves Sunday’s assignment open, with Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, and Daniel Ponce de Leon each waiting for different permutations of potential outcomes.
“Dakota was going [Friday] anyway,” Shildt explained. “He’s got an extra day of rest.
“And then Waino’s Waino. We’re in an opportunity where it’s really more about Adam, the way he’s been pitching, the way he’s pitched in games with these situations. It’s not a slight against Miles [Mikolas] in the least, but more of an opportunity for Adam.”
Cardinals General Manager Michael Girsch said that Michael Wacha, who left Wednesday’s series finale in Arizona after only 1 2/3 innings pitched, has been diagnosed with a mild shoulder strain. He said Wacha won’t throw until the middle of next week at the earliest, and that he would therefore be “unlikely” to be ready to pitch in the National League Division Series, should the Cardinals advance that far.
Shildt did say that he expects Wacha, a pending free agent, will be on the mound for the team again this season.
Kolten Wong, who suffered a grade two hamstring strain last Thursday in Chicago, was on the field Friday taking batting practice and testing the injury. Both Girsch and Shildt referred to Wong as day-to-day, though first baseman Paul Goldschmidt joked that the second baseman was “100%.”
“I think he looks 100%,” Goldschmidt laughed. “It’s my quote, not his.”
Sunday’s starting pitcher will depend on a variety of outcomes, some of which are outside the Cardinals’ control. Shildt said it was “reasonable” that the start would come down to a decision between Mikolas and Flaherty but did not rule out a candidate such as Ponce de Leon in the event the team clinches early.
“We’ll get through today and we’ll continue to evaluate but there is that scenario,” Shildt said.