Cubs fans are struggling to feel confident about their rumored Game 2 starter

UPDATE: Meeting with the media on Sunday afternoon, Craig Counsell confirmed that Shota Imanaga will start Game 2 of the NLDS on Monday against the Milwaukee Brewers.

There's nothing like an off-day to help a team reset and get back on track after a rocky showing - and given how Saturday's NLDS Game 1 went in Milwaukee, the Chicago Cubs very much need to turn the page.

The goal for the first two games of the best-of-five set was always take things back to Wrigley at one game apiece (sure, a sweep would've been nice, but was always unlikely) - and that can still happen. But it'll take the Cubs putting a 9-3 loss in which they looked completely overmatched in every facet of the game behind them and playing a much cleaner brand of baseball.

While manager Craig Counsell didn't make an official announcement about who would start Game 2, rumors suggest left-hander Shota Imanaga will get the ball.

Can Shota Imanaga deliver for the Cubs in a pivotal NLDS Game 2?

Given the skepticism many fans went into Game 1 with regarding Matthew Boyd starting on three days rest, handing the ball to Imanaga, who allowed home runs at a staggering pace in the second half, isn't encouraging much confidence - but this Cubs team is going to ride their best arms to whatever fate it may lead to - period.

Despite his long-ball issues, which we knew was a concern from the day he came over from Japan, Imanaga has been a solidly above-average arm in his first two big-league seasons. Across 318 innings of work, he carries a 120 OPS+ and 1.006 WHIP - although, admittedly, those numbers are buoyed by his sensational rookie campaign.

Looking around this rotation, which is without not only rookie sensation Cade Horton but the team's projected #1 starter heading into the season, Justin Steele, the options are somewhat middling. Apart from Imanaga and Boyd, the Cubs are relying on strong performances from Jameson Taillon and, potentially, guys like Colin Rea and Javier Assad, the latter of whom was left off the NLDS roster.

Rea was brilliant down the stretch for the Cubs, but you're betting he can carry that regular season brilliance (2.50 FIP over the final two months) into October - a big gamble given we're talking about a guy with a career 4.54 FIP. The hard truth is that, without Horton and Steele (not to mention the lack of a major rotation addition at the trade deadline), a shutdown top-of-the-rotation arm isn't something Chicago boasts; and their best bet heading into Game 2 is handing the ball to Imanaga.