A collective groan was heard across Cubdom when it was announced that Drew Smyly was the scheduled starter for Sunday in Pittsburgh, with some folks offering less diplomatic responses. It wouldn’t have made sense even prior to Smyly’s previous start, so it really came across as confounding after the lefty gave up seven earned runs to the Tigers over 3.2 innings of work in the Cubs’ only loss in Detroit.
It didn’t help that David Ross rationalized the decision by saying Smyly was tabbed because the Cubs were thin in the rotation, which is true, and that they lacked a “dominant force” elsewhere in the organization.