Expect a lot of different Cubs pitchers in Saturday's must-win NLDS Game 5

Craig Counsell and his Milwaukee Brewers counterpart Pat Murphy are playing things close to the chest ahead of Saturday night's highly-anticipated Game 5, with neither manager naming a starter when speaking to the media Friday afternoon.

Regardless of who technically starts for each team, you can fully expect to see a ton of different arms contribute. For the Chicago Cubs, Counsell said everyone minus Matthew Boyd is available to go and in the other dugout, outside of Freddy Peralta, the same logic applies. It's a must-win game, so neither manager can afford to leave a stone unturned pitching-wise.

It's all hands on deck for Craig Counsell and the Cubs in Game 5

That means we're probably going to see Shota Imanaga, likely during a run of hitters that offer a decent matchup. In an ideal world, the Cubs' southpaw would be your go-to guy here, but given his recent struggles keeping the ball in the yard - not to mention a rocky Game 2 start (2.2 IP, 4 ER, 2 HR) - you're not putting all your eggs in that basket.

Counsell has leaned heavily on his bullpen in the series, first because of short outings from Boyd and Imanaga to open the series, then to lock down Games 3 and 4 to send the series back to American Family Field with a ticket to the NLCS on the line. But with the scheduled off-day Friday, at least that gives everyone a day to recover and get ready for the series finale.

Ben Brown, who has been tremendous against Milwaukee this year (2 ER in 11 IP), Michael Soroka and Aaron Civale are both available as long men. Chicago's circle of trust (Daniel Palencia, Drew Pomeranz, Brad Keller, Caleb Thielbar, Andrew Kittredge) will be asked to deliver once again, as well, but there's one Cubs pitcher we won't see in Game 5 - Cade Horton.

The rookie right-hander and NL Rookie of the Year candidate threw on Thursday and all seemed to go well. If the Cubs advance to the NLCS, the rotation could get a huge boost assuming he continues tracking well, but he won't be making an appearance as a last-minute roster addition in Game 5.