The Cubs are going with their All Star to set the tone for what they hope is a deep October run.
The team tabbed lefty Matthew Boyd as its starting pitcher for Game 1 of the best-of-three, opening-round playoff series against the Padres.
Boyd has been mostly great during his first season in a Cubs uniform, wrapping the regular season with a 3.21 ERA in 31 starts. His first half was particularly spectacular, a 2.34 ERA in 19 starts earning him his first career trip to the All-Star Game.
Of course, as those two sets of numbers would indicate, Boyd hasn’t been quite as stellar in the second half, with particular woes down the stretch; he had a 6.08 ERA in his final seven starts of the regular season. But he did finish on a good note, throwing 5⅓ innings of two-run ball in his final regular-season start last week against the Mets.
Now, he’s tasked with taking on a Padres lineup that contains All Stars like Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr., among other potent bats. Boyd made a pair of starts against the Padres back in April, first tossing six shutout innings at Wrigley Field and then allowing two runs in 5⅓ innings in San Diego.
Game 1 will be the fifth postseason game of Boyd’s career and the fourth start. He made three playoff starts last year with the Guardians, allowing just one run in 11⅔ innings of work.
Boyd seemed the most logical choice for the Cubs in Game 1 after rookie righty Cade Horton hit the injured list with a rib fracture over the weekend, knocking their best pitcher out for the opening round of the postseason.
Boyd’s fellow lefty Shota Imanaga has similarly struggled down the stretch, with an eight-run outing in his final start of the regular season pushing him to a 5.97 ERA in his last six outings. Imanaga figures to be among the Cubs’ options to start Game 2 of their series with the Padres.
Suzuki, who homered for the fifth time in four days to help the Cubs beat the Cardinals, looks like a fearsome middle-of-the-order presence heading into the postseason.
The rookie righty was one of the best pitchers in baseball in the second half but will miss the first round of the playoffs after going on the IL with a rib fracture.
