ÜBER DIESE EPISODE
The Chicago Cubs may have one of the deepest pitching staffs in baseball heading toward the playoffs — but Craig Counsell has a HUGE decision to make.
With Matthew Boyd, Shōta Imanaga, Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes, Javier Assad, David Peterson and Colin Rea all in the mix, plus Edward Cabrera and Ben Brown nearing their returns, the Cubs suddenly have a massive pitching logjam.
So who actually deserves a spot in the playoff rotation?
In this episode of Chicago Cubs Central, Mike breaks down the Cubs' pitching situation and asks the BIG question:
🔥 WHO STARTS IN THE PLAYOFFS?
🔥 WHO SHOULD MOVE TO THE BULLPEN?
🔥 Could Clay Holmes be MORE valuable as a reliever?
🔥 Does Javier Assad belong in the rotation or become a multi-inning weapon?
🔥 What do the Cubs do with Ben Brown and Edward Cabrera?
🔥 Can Kevin Gausman become a postseason ace?
🔥 Is Shōta Imanaga the Game 1 starter?
Mike also breaks down the pitch mix, 2026 performance and postseason potential of each pitcher before revealing his projected Cubs playoff rotation.
🥇 Shōta Imanaga
🥈 Kevin Gausman
🥉 Matthew Boyd
4️⃣ Javier Assad
And the bullpen could feature some SERIOUS weapons:
💥 Clay Holmes
💥 Ben Brown
💥 Edward Cabrera
💥 Colin Rea
The Cubs have spent the season searching for pitching depth.
Now they may have the opposite problem — TOO MANY OPTIONS.
And that could be exactly what Chicago needs to make a deep October run.
👇 CUBS FANS — I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Who should start Game 1?
Imanaga, Gausman, Boyd, Holmes or somebody else?
And who are YOU moving to the bullpen?
Drop your playoff pitching staff in the comments! ⚾️
#ChicagoCubs #Cubs #ChicagoCubsCentral #CubsBaseball #MLB #CubsPlayoffs #CraigCounsell #ShotaImanaga #KevinGausman #MatthewBoyd #ClayHolmes #JavierAssad #BenBrown #EdwardCabrera
🚨 MY PROJECTED PLAYOFF ROTATION:
