Cubs reveal Game 3 starting lineup vs. Padres (And Craig Counsell proves fans wrong)

Faced with an offense that has looked lifeless over the first two games, short of back-to-back home runs from Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly in Game 1, there was speculation that the Chicago Cubs may make a change ahead of the decisive Game 3 against the San Diego Padres on Thursday. Instead, Counsell tripled down on what got him here--depending on his veterans. The Cubs revealed their lineup for Game 3, and there are no changes.

Cubs lineup reveal for Game 3 proves Craig Counsell isn’t backing down

The only real changes that would have been logical were taking rookie Matt Shaw out of the lineup for Willi Castro. Though considering Castro's struggles since joining the Cubs at the MLB trade deadline, it makes sense that Counsell opted to have Shaw's defense at third base to start the game. With the Cubs struggling to score runs in the first two games of the series, run prevention remains their priority.

Throughout his first two years as the Cubs manager, Counsell has put a reliance on the veterans that he has penciled into the lineup each day. Even faced with a win-or-go-home situation, it would have been out of character for Counsell to alter his approach now. The Cubs weren't going to take Kyle Tucker or Seiya Suzuki out of the lineup in favor of Moises Ballesteros, and they weren't going to pencil the rookie in as the team's starting catcher.

As Dansby Swanson told reporters after the Cubs' loss on Wednesday, the team has to do a better job of taking advantage of the opportunities in front of them. The Cubs have struck out 24 times through the first two games of the series, and 14 of those have come from Shaw, Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Ian Happ. There isn't a scenario where the Cubs were going to enter a decisive game of a playoff series with any of those players on the bench.

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