Cubs overcame too many Craig Counsell mistakes in magical comeback vs Dodgers

What a rollercoaster win for the Chicago Cubs. They started high, dropped way down before scoring four unanswered runs to stun the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-10 in 10 innings on Tuesday night.

It didn’t come without its challenges though. Craig Counsell certainly did complicate the Cubs’ reason for having to come back in the first place. You could point to several reasons why the Cubs needed a miracle to win — we’ll touch on those in a bit. 

Having a hot bat in a game like this is always clutch as well with the Cubs recording 17 hits in the game. Despite that, the Cubs still almost lost and there are three particular reasons why this game was much closer than it could have been.

3 mistakes Craig Counsell made that the Chicago Cubs has to overcome in miraculous win over LA Dodgers

3) Craig Counsell left bullpen in impossible situation with Shota Imanaga

Counsell probably should have pulled Shota Imanaga quicker than he did. While the Cubs were able to get almost six innings out of their starter, he gave up three home runs, six hits and allowed five runs.

I think the more prevalent stat is the fact that he had just six strikeouts in 101 thrown pitches. He struggled and Counsell hesitated to turn to his bullpen. That put his relievers in an impossible spot.

The bullpen gave up another five runs and it almost was the reason the Cubs lost. Fortunately, Ian Happ’s 4-for-5 performance with the game-winning RBI and two runs scored saved the day. 

2) Counsell should have never turned to Brad Keller

In the ⅓ inning he played, Brad Keller tried to single-handedly lose the game. He gave up five runs, allowed just two hits and walked two batters. It’s not like this season has given any indication he’d be the answer. 

This year, he’s thrown 9.1 innings with a 6.75 ERA, 1.71 WHIP and 0.2 WAR. Along with that, he’s struck out just 12 batters that he’s faced. Counsell should have known it wasn’t going to end well turning to Keller. 

Keller’s horrendous night had a domino effect on the rest of the arms that played. While none gave up any runs and combined for just one hit allowed, it put a lot of pressure on them late in the game. 

1) Was Counsell’s move to have Carson Kelly pinch hit for Michael Busch the right one?

This was probably the most criticized move by Counsell on Tuesday. I can truly see both sides of it. Busch is batting .301 so it doesn’t make sense to take him out. His OPS is .948, you want your most efficient hitters in the game. 

That said, Busch was also 0-for-4 with two strikeouts so swapping him wasn’t completely illogical. It’s not like Kelly is a terrible batter either. In 35 plate appearances this year, he has the second most home runs on the roster with six. 

He’s also batting .375 and has four strikeouts, which is the fewest for a Cubs player with multiple plate appearances. I see why Counsell turned to Kelly. Technically he got on base, so it probably was the smartest move after all.