Padres name Game 1 starter while Cubs face a brutal pitching dilemma

The Chicago Cubs drew a tough matchup in Tuesday's Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series in right-hander Nick Pivetta, who will take the ball for the San Diego Padres in the opener. Craig Counsell has not yet announced his starter, which isn't exactly a surprise given that, up until Sunday, rookie right-hander Cade Horton looked to have the inside track on that job.

As we all know, Horton was placed on the 15-day injured list on Sunday morning with a right rib fracture - a shocking development that immediately put the Cubs behind the eight-ball to open postseason play. The best-case scenario is an activation late in the NLDS, but that would require a corresponding roster injury to even add him. The hard truth? Chicago is planning for an October without their prized young arm.

Cubs are hoping their veteran starters show up when it matters most

The Cubs have options. No, none of them bring the same hype that Horton would, but there are solutions here. If Counsell sticks with the mix we've seen late in the year, Matthew Boyd or Shota Imanaga will start Game 1 - but it's not quite that cut-and-dry.

Boyd's performance sharply waned late in the year as his workload pushed to levels he hadn't hit in the better part of a decade. After pitching to a 2.34 ERA in 19 first-half starts en route to an All-Star selection, the left-hander posted a 4.63 ERA after the break, including a season-high 5.31 mark in September. His final start of the regular season (5.1 IP, 2 ER) was a nice rebound, but there are legitimate concerns here heading into the postseason.

As for Imanaga, the long ball issues he worked through as an MLB rookie in 2024 have reared their ugly head of late. He's coughed up at least one homer in each of his last nine outings - and 11 of his past 12 overall. That works out to 20 home runs in fewer than 70 innings. With warmer-than-normal temperatures expected this week for three afternoon games, that could spell disaster for the southpaw in a hitter-friendly environment.

Behind their two lefties, the Cubs have veteran Jameson Taillon, who has been remarkably consistent since returning from his pair of summer IL stints. He's the logical replacement for Horton in the rotation - and my guess is he's the Game 3 starter. That would allow Counsell to keep both Colin Rea and Javier Assad ready at a moment's notice should things go sideways for Imanaga who, given how he's pitched lately, probably isn't the guy you want to turn to in what would be a win-or-go-home contest on Thursday.

The Padres are far from perfect behind Pivetta. But given the excitement surrounding Horton and the perfect juxtaposition he offered up alongside Boyd atop the Cubs' rotation, it's hard not to head into the playoffs feeling at least a little concerned about how this staff will show up in October.