Rain

The Cubs were rained out Monday night and will play a double-header Tuesday.  This was one of those weird games where it was not raining at game time but rain was in the forecast.  The rain actually did not arrive until after 8, but when it let up, half the stadium was unlit owing to a power failure, so the game was rescheduled.  By virtue of the rainout and a Brewers loss, the Cubs moved into first place by 6 percentage points.

There was some controversy and second-guessing respecting Maddon's managing in Sunday night's loss to the Cards.  For what it is worth, I have to agree with the critics.  Most people are saying Maddon should have gone to Cishek instead of Bass when he removed Quintana in the top of the sixth with two men on base.  My thinking is why did he feel the need to make a move in the first place.

Quintana had thrown around 80 pitches at that point and had been in complete control, pitching a two-hitter until the top of the inning.  I have always thought that modern managers manipulate their bullpens and over-manage their starters in a fundamentally flawed fashion.  Starting pitchers are supposed to pitch out of trouble.  That's why they are starters.  They have at least three plus pitches, etc., etc.  Relievers are all failed starters.  They have one plus pitch if that and one middling pitch by and large.  In this case, Bass, Maddon's choice, is pretty much a failed reliever.

I know all the statistics suggest the third time through the order results in a greater chance of being hit hard, but lets not forget that this insight is based on all starting pitchers.  Good starting pitchers tend to fare a lot better.  Maddon really seems to have confidence only in Lester among his starters, which is bound to affect these guys in the long run.  In this case, Maddon chose to go with a journeyman reliever over one of the better starting pitchers in the division.  That's certainly a head-scratcher.  If Maddon had been managing St. Louis, Flaherty, who was in and out of trouble all night and had a high pitch count to boot, would have been out of the game in the fourth inning.

The Cubs were pretty much lost at the plate most of the game, so it is hard to say whether they might have won.  However, this is not the first time Maddon's eccentric style has cost the Cubs a chance to win.