Cubs face brutal ghost-of-the-past stretch with painful revenge games looming

The Chicago Cubs are set to play in a playoff series for the first time since 2020 and their first time in a full-length season since 2018, the better part of a decade. And the long wait garnered the club a walk down memory lane.

Game 1 of the series was supposed to be Cade Horton's time to shine, and it certainly would have felt like a better matchup for Chicago with Nick Pivetta taking the mound for the visiting San Diego Padres. Instead, Matthew Boyd will get the start, with the rest of the team's starting pitchers still a bit up in the air. The Friars, on the other hand, have already mapped out who gets the ball in Game 2 and Game 3 should the series go that far.

First up for the Padres is the man the Cubs traded away during the 2017 playoff push. Dylan Cease will get the Game 2 nod, and gives San Diego a pitcher who not only will give Chicago fits of deja vu, but a pitcher who has largely dominated the North Siders the few times he's gone up against them head to head.

Dylan Cease, Yu Darvish are ready to haunt the Cubs in the playoffs

In eight career outings against the Cubs, Cease has a 4-2 record and a 2.47 ERA with a whopping 61 strikeouts in just 47 1/3 innings pitched. He last faced them this past April in a 10-4 win for San Diego. Cease did get hit around a bit, allowing seven hits in 5 2/3 frames, but he surrendered just two earned runs and struck out seven.

Should the two teams split the first two games, Yu Darvish, whom the Cubs traded to San Diego after that aforementioned 2020 season, will get the call.

Darvish spent the early part of this season on the IL and hasn't been great since coming off, posting a career-worst 5.38 ERA. However, over the course of his career, Darvish has arguably had his best results against the Cubs.

In six career starts, he's gone 3-2 with a 2.36 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings.

In other words, it's not just that the Chicago Cubs will be facing off against former members of the organization. They'll be facing off against guys who have had quite a bit of success against their former mates. Buckle up!