Local sports talk producer's Cubs take is so bad it's actually impressive

I'm the first to admit. Local sports talk radio isn't my cup of tea. More often than not, it's just a bunch of overly emotional takes getting thrown back and forth, and I have better things to do with my time.

The reaction of 670 The Score executive producer Dustin Rhoades to the Cubs' 2-0 loss in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, and Craig Counsell's decision to start Michael Busch against a left-handed pitcher, though, really got me fired up when I came across it online.

As we all know, for much of the season, Counsell has gone with veteran Justin Turner at first with left-handed starters on the mound. In his career, the left-handed hitting Busch has a slash line of just .229/.306/.328 against southpaws, so protecting him in those matchups makes a good degree of sense.

And while Turner hasn't lived up to the billing to this point, he has a long track record of doing damage against lefties (career .817 OPS) - so giving him those at-bats in hopes of getting his bat going after a slow start also makes sense.

Cubs do exactly what we've been asking for with Michael Busch - and, still, people can't help but complain about it

But Rhoades has been begging to see Busch more in those spots. I agree. You want to see him exposed more to those left-on-left matchups in hopes that he can follow an Anthony Rizzo-like path and go from being a strict platoon guy to an everyday starter, capable of giving you quality at-bats regardless of who's on the mound.

He got his wish on Wednesday, with Busch penciled in, batting seventh against Nationals lefty Mackenzie Gore. The Cubs' first baseman went 0-for-3 against Gore and picked up a ninth-inning single off right-hander Kyle Finnegan.

Busch saw six pitches in his first two at-bats against Gore, but then went down with a 1-3 putout on just two pitches in their final matchup. Regardless of the results, Rhoades was losing his mind Thursday morning, criticizing the Cubs' decision to have Busch face Gore. Man, you can't have it both ways.

So why would Counsell pick that game to have Busch in there against a lefty? Oh, I don't know, maybe because he was batting .533/.611/1.200 over his last five games, with two triples, two home runs and eight runs batted in - so it's safe to say he was probably feeling pretty good at the plate. I want him to have a matchup that might not be perfect for him when he's on a heater and feeling himself.

Rhoades went on to say that after Wednesday's showing, Busch's confidence and the team's confidence in him are probably shaken, which might be the most ridiculous part of this whole rant. You wanted Busch to face lefties, the Cubs gave him that opportunity. And if you want to draw short-sighted conclusions from those three at-bats, instead of understanding the larger picture, that's just a bad look for you.