Two key pieces of the Chicago Cubs’ NLDS pitching rotation fell into place on Friday as both teams worked out to prepare for the impending best-of-five playoff series.
What they’re saying:
Chicago Cubs rookie Cade Horton won’t pitch in the NL Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers as he recovers from a rib fracture that sent him on the injured list during the regular season’s final week.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell made that announcement Friday, the day before his team begins the best-of-5 series in Milwaukee.
“We’re encouraging healing right now, so we’re not doing anything that would cause pain,” Counsell said. “We haven’t pushed him to a place that we would test that. I think as we get into later this week, we’re going to have to decide if it’s time to do that, and that decision has not been made yet.”
The 24-year-old Horton has gone 11-4 with a 2.67 ERA in 23 appearances, making him a Rookie of the Year contender. The Cubs selected him out of Oklahoma with the seventh overall pick in the 2022 amateur draft.
Horton was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Sept. 25 and missed the Cubs’ NL Wild Card Series victory over the San Diego Padres.
He last pitched Sept. 23 and left that game with back tightness. Counsell had indicated Horton was sick after his start before that one, causing problems with his back and ribs.
Milwaukee also is missing one of its top starting pitchers. Two-time All-Star Brandon Woodruff is sidelined by a lat strain.
What’s next:
The Cubs did make their decision for Saturday’s NLDS opener. They’ll go with the All-Star.
The team announced Matthew Boyd, who also started the NL Wild Card opener, would start Game 1 of the NLDS on short rest. Boyd threw 58 pitches across 4.1 innings on Tuesday.
The Brewers are starting All-Star Freddy Peralta, who went 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA during the regular season.
“I think we’re going into this with a couple plans,” Counsell said. “We’re going to let everybody throw today and then make a decision after that. But we’ve definitely got what we’d prefer to do.”
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