The performance of the Cubs’ starting rotation was a huge factor in the team’s moderate success last season and the same figures to be true this season. Why, then, are we seeing so little of the core four holdovers from last year’s group of starters?
Joe Maddon has stated a desire to provide as much rest as possible for arms that have pitched deep into the postseason the last two years. When you figure that a great deal of the great results were due to extraordinary collective health, it makes sense to give those guys as much time as possible to recuperate.