Craig Counsell almost ruined Shota Imanaga's Cubs no-hitter even earlier

Removing any pitcher from a no-hitter is one of the toughest situations a manager has to deal with. On the one hand, the manager has to take the player's health and future into account. On the other, they risk ruining history and becoming a scapegoat. It is an issue Cubs manager Craig Counsell has been rather consistent with, however.

Counsell doesn't mind sticking his neck out for his players, even when they don't agree with him. Fans surely don't always like it, especially on Wednesday night, when Cubs hurler Shota Imanaga was at 95 pitches through seven innings of a no-hitter. Counsell took his star pitcher aside, delivered the news, and removed him from the game. It was probably the right call, as Counsell explained after the game.

“All right, let me have it...Look, it’s always hard to do in that situation. But you’re taking care of Shota,” Counsell said. “It’s not fun to do, but you’re prioritizing the player’s health. … He actually didn’t know he had a no-hitter going at all, which is funny.”

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Craig Counsell almost made disastrous mistake in Cubs no-hitter

Counsell was merely looking out for Imanaga's long-term health. He has already thrown more innings this season than at any other point in his career. The Cubs are in the NL Wild Card race, and will need to rely on Imanaga down the stretch. And, 95 pitches is a natural end point for any starting pitcher's night in the modern game. Nothing he did was inherently wrong, and despite the hilarious coach-speak Counsell used to describe his choice, he was basically home free...until he admitted he nearly pulled Imanaga an inning earlier.

There's acting out of caution, and then there's managing scared. Pulling Imanaga after the sixth inning would have been the latter, and also could've put the Cubs bullpen in a precarious position. Thankfully, after seven innings, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge were able to shut the door on the Pirates with a similar level of success. Asking Chicago's 'pen to go another inning, however, could've very well robbed Imanaga of history -- especially considering he was at just 78 pitches at that point.

The Cubs committed two errors on the night against a hapless Pirates team that just wants the season to end already. It's a monumental accomplishment by the three pitchers involved that thankfully wasn't ruined by Counsell's over-managing.