Cubs' Counsell frustrated by back-to-back rainouts, calls ejection rule 'terrible'

What happened

Craig Counsell had opinions. Two consecutive rainouts will do that to a manager, and by the time the Cubs arrived in Queens for a series opener against the Mets, Counsell was already in a mood worth documenting. The game at Citi Field was postponed due to poor weather and rescheduled as a day-night doubleheader — a format that is, among other things, a logistical puzzle for pitching staffs. Then, later that same day, Counsell was ejected following an unusual play, and he did not leave quietly. He called the rule responsible for his ejection "terrible," per Yahoo Sports.

That is a fairly direct critique from a manager who, it should be noted, was already sitting in a dugout with a tarp covering the infield on a drizzly day in Queens when he started talking.

Why it matters

The back-to-back postponements are the operational story here. The Cubs had already been rained out at Wrigley Field during what was supposed to be the final game of a series against the Toronto Blue Jays — that makeup is slated for Aug. 6, per Yahoo Sports. Then the series opener in New York went the same way.

Counsell was pointed about the Wrigley postponement in particular. Per Yahoo Sports, he said consecutive rainouts are "troublesome for pitching, for sure," and then went further, arguing that the previous day's game had no business being called off: the weather simply did not warrant it, in his view, yet the game was not played. He delivered this assessment from the dugout, tarp on the infield, which is either ironic or just very on-brand for a week that apparently had it out for the Cubs' schedule.

The weather picture around Citi Field on the postponement day was, per Yahoo Sports, genuinely messy — heavy thunderstorms in the late afternoon and again after 11 p.m., with wet conditions throughout. Whether that context softens or sharpens Counsell's frustration about the Wrigley game is a matter of perspective. His perspective, clearly, was the sharper one.

The ejection adds another layer. An unusual play triggered the application of a rule Counsell found objectionable enough to call "terrible" on the record, per Yahoo Sports. The specifics of the play and the rule are not detailed further in the Yahoo Sports report, but the ejection itself is noted, and Counsell's characterization of the rule is unambiguous.

The numbers

The Cubs carry an 89-73 record into this series, good for a .549 winning percentage and second place in the NL Central — though they are 14 games back in the division and eliminated from the division race. The Wild Card picture is where Chicago's season lives now: the club sits at rank 2 in the Wild Card standings, +1.0 relative to the cut line. They arrive in New York on a one-game winning streak.

That +1.0 margin above the Wild Card cut line is the number that matters most right now. It is not a cushion that invites relaxation, and a doubleheader — with all the pitching compression that implies — is exactly the kind of scheduling wrinkle that tests a roster's depth. Counsell's frustration about the consecutive rainouts is not just philosophical; every unplanned doubleheader is a quiet tax on a bullpen.

Where the club stands

Second in the NL Central and second in the Wild Card race at +1.0 above the cut line, the Cubs are playing for a postseason berth rather than a division title, with the division out of reach. The upcoming schedule in New York carries real weight in that context.

Wednesday's doubleheader at Citi Field has Javier Assad lined up against Nolan McLean in one game and Shota Imanaga against Sean Manaea in the other. Thursday brings Matthew Boyd against Freddy Peralta. That is three games in two days against a Mets club sharing the same general neighborhood of the standings — the kind of series that can shift a Wild Card picture in either direction without much warning.

The Aug. 6 makeup date for the rained-out Blue Jays game is now sitting on the schedule as well, per Yahoo Sports, a reminder that the calendar has a way of filling itself back in whether a team wants it to or not.

What we don't know yet

The Yahoo Sports report does not specify which rule Counsell called "terrible," what the unusual play was that triggered its application, or what the precise sequence of events led to the ejection. The ejection following the unusual play is noted, and Counsell's criticism of the rule is on the record, but the mechanical details of the call itself are not laid out.

It is also not clear from the Yahoo Sports report whether the doubleheader format carries any further scheduling implications for the Cubs' roster construction heading into the rest of the series. Counsell's comments about the strain on pitching are attributed and clear; what the club does about it is not yet reported.

What to watch

### Is Counsell's ejection subject to a fine or further discipline?

The Yahoo Sports report does not address any potential discipline stemming from the ejection. That is the natural follow-up question, and it remains unanswered as of the report.

Beyond that, the doubleheader itself is the immediate operational test. Assad and Imanaga are both lined up for Wednesday's twin bill, and how the Cubs manage their pitching across two games in one day — after a week that already included two postponements and the attendant schedule compression — is worth tracking closely. The +1.0 Wild Card margin is real but not roomy, and the Mets series is the present-tense version of the Cubs' season.

The Aug. 6 makeup against Toronto is a longer-horizon item, but it is now a fixed point on the schedule, per Yahoo Sports, and it will eventually matter for the same Wild Card arithmetic that governs everything Chicago does from here.

Counsell, for his part, has made his views on rainouts and the rule in question abundantly clear. Whether the weather in Queens cooperates for the rest of the series is, as ever, not subject to managerial input.