The Chicago Cubs have the third-best record in the National League. Unfortunately, that's good enough for third place in the NL Central division.
Nonetheless, manager Joe Maddon is looking ahead to the postseason as the team holds a 9.5 game lead over the San Francisco Giants for the second NL wild-card spot. As of right now it appears as if the Cubs will face the Pittsburgh Pirates in the one-game wild-card playoff and if they win that they'll play the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS.
Maddon made some comments on Monday night that are bound to spur rumors about the Cubs' starting rotation if they were to reach the NLDS. Starter Jason Hammel has been struggling as of late and it could cost him a start against in that potential five-game postseason series.
"The most scrutinized issue involves the third spot in the rotation should they advance past the wild-card game Oct. 7, likely against the Pirates," writes Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.
"Dan Haren will have his next turn skipped, lining up the rotation so Jon Lester, Jason Hammel and Jake Arrieta will face the Pirates this weekend at Wrigley Field."
However, the last time Hammel pitched seven innings or more was July 3. Since then the right-hander is 4-2, but owns a 5.34 ERA in those 13 starts. His outing last night did not help his cause. Against the last-place Milwaukee Brewers, who were without Ryan Braun, Hammel surrendered four runs (three earned) on five hits and one walk over five innings (104 pitches).
He's also 1-1 with a 5.73 ERA in three starts against the Cardinals this season, including one in early July when he left after the first inning with a hamstring injury.
"It's very fluid. Absolutely, it's fluid," Maddon said of Hammel's potential spot in the postseason rotation, via Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago. "There's a lot of discussion involved in that part of the rotation. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it's not.
"We'll see how we play it out."
Luckily for Hammel, his competition is not performing well either. Haren is just 2-2 with a 5.00 ERA and 1.42 WHIP in nine starts since the Cubs acquired him at the trade deadline. However, he is 1-1 with a 2.60 ERA in three starts against St. Louis this season.
Rumors regarding the team's potential rotation against the Cardinals will continue to surface, as it's a hot topic with just 12 games to go.
It'll be interesting to see how these two audition in their final starts of the season. Hammel has only pitched in the postseason four times (for a total of 15 innings) and Haren just seven (19 1/3 innings), with his last appearance coming in 2006 with the Oakland Athletics.
Maddon's decision may come down to how Hammel pitches against the Pirates. Right now he's tentatively scheduled to pitch the second game of the NLDS, but that could change with a clunker this weekend.
