Cubs Will 'Likely' Carry 11 Pitchers, 14 Position Players On NLDS Roster
(CBS) The Cubs will "likely" carry 11 pitchers and 14 position players on their National League Divisional Series roster, manager Joe Maddon said Tuesday on his weekly hit on the Spiegel and Goff Show.
The Cubs don't have to finalize their playoff roster until Friday morning ahead of that evening's opener against the winner of the Mets-Giants wild-card game. Unless something drastic changes, the 11-14 approach is what Chicago will go with, Maddon said, citing the recovery time for pitchers with an off day between Game 2 on Saturday and Game 3 on Monday, as well as a second off day if the best-of-five series goes the distance.
"More than anything, it's a five-game series," Maddon said. "You play two, get a day off. You play two, get a day off and then play one if you have to. So there's plenty of time to get pitchers reset. I'm talking specifically about bullpen guys, so that's why 11 seems to be the more likely number right now. You get into a seven-game series, you might want to rethink that. you just have to look at what you've done in the five-game series.
"We'll have meeting the next couple days to talk about these different things. We haven't concluded anything yet."
Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta and John Lackey are the starters who are locks to make the postseason roster. Aroldis Chapman, Hector Rondon, Pedro Strop, Mike Montgomery, Justin Grimm, C.J. Edwards and Travis Wood are expected to be the group that comprises the bullpen, though Maddon has also praised the work of Trevor Cahill and Rob Zastryzny lately.
There are more difficult decisions to make regarding position players. Outfielders Albert Almora Jr., Jorge Soler and Matt Szczur and infielder Tommy La Stella are expected to be in the mix for the final few spots.
Listen to Maddon's full interview with Spiegel and Goff below.
