With two off-days bookending this series against the Nationals, the Cubs are going to skip a Mike Montgomery start.
Cubs skipping Mike Montgomery's turn in the rotation. He will start again next Saturday in Pittsburgh. This will help limit his innings and 2 off-days allow Cubs to go with 4-man rotation for a bit.
Montgomery will be available out of bullpen for a few days vs. Nats + Brewers.
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) August 10, 2018
Montgomery won't go in his next start as they trying to conserve his innings. Q goes Tuesday, Hendricks Wed, Lester Thurs, Hamels Fri and then Monty next Saturday. MM will be available out of the pen this weekend (not today) and then will be shelved again for his start.
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) August 10, 2018
Although I generally hate the idea of not giving everyone all the extra rest they can get when off-days come along, I’ve gotta say this time it makes plenty of sense, given that there are TWO off-days coming before you’d even get through the full rotation once.
And, as Andracki and Sharma point out, this will not only give the Cubs ability to use Montgomery out of the bullpen as necessary in these huge, tough games, it will also allow them to manage his innings a bit here down the stretch.
Also, I’d add: it could help get him re-acclimated to moving in and out of the rotation, which he may need to do some more as Yu Darvish readies to return in a few weeks. Eventually, it seems likely that Montgomery will be back in the bullpen by the time late September rolls around, at a minimum.
For now, Montgomery joins Jorge De La Rosa as the new lefties in the bullpen this weekend.