With his team locked in a furious battle for an NL wild card playoff spot, Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell isn't pleased with MLB's decision to alter the schedule for this weekend's series against the Boston Red Sox.
With a major storm system on track to hit New England on Sunday, the Cubs' regular-season finale in Boston that day has been rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on Friday.
"They never move games up and especially within a five-day window of a starting rotation," Counsell told reporters on Wednesday, Sept. 23. "So we can't have somebody ready to pitch on Saturday. They just moved games up on us. I understand there's extenuating circumstances, but you just don't see that happening."
After the regular season concludes, there's a rest
day on Monday before the start of the wild card playoffs.
MLB could conceivably move a rained out game on Sunday to the off day, but that would leave the Red Sox and Cubs very little time to travel to and get ready for their wild-card openers on Tuesday.
The Red Sox are just about locked in to the No. 5 seed in the American League, which will send them to New York to face the Yankees in a best-of-three AL wild card series.
The Cubs are still battling for the top spot in the NL wild card race, but they would still need to get from Boston to the site of their playoff opener, be it home or away.
One other disadvantage for the Cubs is that with expanded rosters in September, they aren't allowed to add an extra player for a doubleheader, as they would normally. So Counsell will have to juggle his pitching staff for two games on Friday and lose one day of rest for his starter on Saturday.
"The decision is made always on a balance of everybody's interest," Counsell said. "And you get shortchanged in some … or not have the optimal solution."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cubs skipper unhappy with MLB's schedule change for Red Sox series
