Cubs manager Craig Counsell reveals lessons from 'daunting' playoff scenario

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Cubs fell one close game short of a berth in the National League Championship Series in October.

Had they beaten the Brewers and advanced to face the Dodgers, they would have had a new challenge to deal with.

“It would have gotten daunting,” manager Craig Counsell said of the pitching situation. “I don’t think it was daunting for the first two series, and I don’t think it necessarily affected us for the first two series.”

But a best-of-seven series without the same frequency of days off as a best-of-five division series would be a different story. So even as the Cubs refuse to flex their financial might like their large-market counterparts, they know they have to add high-quality starting pitching to give themselves a chance at a deep playoff run. And considering the lofty asking prices at the trade deadline in July, the time to do so is this offseason, whether it’s through trade or free agency.

“We’re definitely looking for another starter,” team president Jed Hoyer said this week.

Even in the NLDS, the Cubs got creative as they lined up their pitching. They started left-hander Matthew Boyd on short rest in Game 1 so he’d be available again for Game  4. And after lefty Shota Imanaga struggled in Game 2, they went with a bullpen game for the decisive Game 5.

Lefty Justin Steele’s season-ending elbow injury and right-hander Cade Horton’s fractured rib limited the starting pitching options. Horton, out for the first two rounds of the playoffs, was on track to return from the injured list for the NLCS. But without time to build back up, he still wouldn’t have been able to offer much length.

“That’s what you’re always guarding against,” Counsell said. “And you see teams like Atlanta, who had significant starting-pitcher injuries, and what it can do to a season. And you think about that, absolutely.”

With a 76-win season, the Braves missed the playoffs for the first time in eight years.

The Cubs’ injury situation wasn’t nearly as extreme, but they were without multiple regular rotation members for much of the season. They managed to weather it, finishing with a 92-70 record and the top NL wild-card spot, but the cracks began to show in the postseason.

“You’re always looking to add to that stable of innings, and the best way to do that is through a starter,” general manager Carter Hawkins said Tuesday. “And so that’s why that’s been one of our focuses, and that’s why we’re trying to shake every tree to figure out where our best bet might be.”

On the far other end of the spectrum, the Dodgers plowed through the postseason on the strength of their starting pitching, which covered for holes in their bullpen. In Game  7 of the World Series alone, they deployed four star starting pitchers: Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Major-league super-agent Scott Boras, who acknowledged he has had multiple meetings with Hoyer this offseason, summed up the Dodgers’ effect on the market while taking questions Tuesday.

“All the clubs that were really close, in the playoffs last year, certainly realize they need to do more,” Boras said. “We’ve got a dynamic ongoing in this game. We’ve got a Goliath. They understand that. And that Goliath can get even better without really adding much.”

The Cubs are expecting Horton to have a normal offseason and for Steele to return early in the season. The bar, however, has been raised. And if the Cubs hope to meet it, they’ll have to elevate their rotation.