At the end of Tuesday’s off-day workout at Wrigley Field, the Cubs held a simulated game.

It was a chance to give some of the reserves and taxi squad players a chance to stay sharp. Miguel Amaya was the catcher. The hitters included guys like Moises Ballesteros, Kevin Alcantara, Owen Caissie, Nicky Lopez and Reese McGuire.

A variety of pitchers took the mound, starting with Javier Assad. That was a somewhat painful reminder of what could have been, and why the Cubs find themselves in a precarious 2-0 hole against Milwaukee in the National League division series. It’s win or go home Wednesday for the Cubs.

The Cubs chose to leave Assad off the playoff roster, then gambled that Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga could reverse their late-season fades to start off this series.

Needless to say, it didn’t work. Boyd couldn’t finish the first inning in Game 1, while Imanaga continued to give up home runs in Game 2 and left the mound in the third.

The Cubs could have trusted Assad, Colin Rae and maybe Aaron Civale to keep the team competitive during those two games in Milwaukee. That plan couldn’t have gone any worse than it did.

And even if they were down 0-2, they could have a rested Boyd ready for Game 3 and Jameson Taillon to start Game 4. Instead, it’s up to Taillon to keep the season alive Wednesday, then who knows what happens with the pitching plan if the Cubs survive another day.

“We put ourselves in a hole this series, no question about it,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday. “We get to decide how the story ends.”

All it would take is one victory for the Cubs to build some momentum. They’re counting on the home fans to supply an energy boost.

“Getting here and getting in front of our fans will be big,” reliever Brad Keller said. “As we saw in that Padres series, this crowd’s amazing, this crowd’s elite, electric atmosphere. We’re hoping they’ll back us (Wednesday) and go out there and get a win.”

The Cubs did beat the Brewers three straight times in August, but their playoff offense needs to get on track. They’ve scored 3 runs or less in all five games of the 2025 postseason.

You have to go all the way back to the 9-8 victory at Washington in Game 5 of the 2017 NLDS to find the last time the Cubs scored more than 3 runs in a postseason contest. That’s 14 games in a row, counting the division playoff against Counsell and Milwaukee in 2018.

Nico Hoerner is the only Cubs player with multiple hits in this series; he’s 3-for-8. The rest of the regulars have 1 hit each, except for Kyle Tucker (0-for-6, 2 walks) and Matt Shaw (0-for-2, 4 walks).

On the other side, Milwaukee’s hitters are showing no signs of rust after their six-day layoff from the end of the regular season, piling up 24 hits in the two games. At the top of the order, Jackson Chourio is 5-for-7 at the plate, Williams Contreras 4-for-9 and Christian Yelich 4-for-8.

The Cubs need Taillon to somehow shut it all down Wednesday. He set a good tone in the decisive Game 3 against San Diego, but only went 4 innings. The workload could increase against the Brewers if Taillon is on his game.

“If I gain a mile an hour from adrenaline, that is not really going to matter,” he said. “What is going to matter is whether I sequence right and execute pitches the right way. I kind of plan on just doubling down with that again.”

Cade Horton, sidelined by a rib fracture, spoke to reporters Tuesday and said he’s been throwing pain-free and is confident he could pitch again if the Cubs advance past this series. There’s work to be done on that front, obviously.

But with the Cubs being back home, maybe good things will happen.

“Wrigley is a special place,” Counsell said. “What I’ve learned is that this place, when you think it can’t provide more, it provides more. I think it did it for us last week. I think moments here are remembered.”

Sad moments can linger too, Cubs fans know that well. But until the game ends, there’s always a chance the Cubs could write a happier ending.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251007/chicago-cubs/after-pitching-plan-backfired-cubs-face-long-odds-against-brewers/