Craig Counsell certainly made a big bet when he handed the ball to Matthew Boyd, just three days after Boyd’s brilliant outing against the San Diego Padres. He threw an efficient 58 pitches over four-plus innings on Tuesday and allowed just one run in Chicago’s Game 1 win.

The Cubs skipper even clarified that earlier this week. “He’s going on three days, he’s going on a small number of pitches,” as per MLB.com. “We wouldn’t make this decision, this would not be a decision on a six-inning start or a 90-pitch start. We would not be considering this. But, yeah, I think he had his head on it, probably when he got in the dugout. Yeah, and he’s asked repeatedly about it.” But that logic crumbled spectacularly when Boyd allowed six runs with four hits and a walk while recording only 2 outs in NLDS Game 1, and the Brewers jumped to a massive lead early in the game.

Despite that, Counsell stood firm in his decision in his post-game press conference. Marquee Sports Network tweeted the clip, where Counsell said, “I was very comfortable putting Matt Boyd on the mound today.” He continued, “Yeah, I mean, we picked Matt Boyd to pitch. I don’t know what to say… We went with Matt… The whole organization was comfortable putting Matt Boyd on the mound today.” Yet all fans witnessed was the immediate collapse on the field.

Michael Busch’s leadoff home run gave the Cubs an immediate 1-0 lead early in the game. Then, the Brewers’ bats replied with Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang, and William Contreras hitting three straight doubles off Boyd, who was pitching on short rest.

Things went from bad to worse after a critical error by Nico Hoerner that opened the floodgates completely.

Blake Perkins hit a single that finally knocked Boyd out of the game. And after a two-run single off reliever Michael Soroka, the Brewers had a 6-1 lead just after the first inning.

And this shaky outing was not a surprise because pitching on three days’ rest was a rare and unsuccessful task for Boyd.

In his entire 11-year career, the lefty had only pitched on three days’ rest three previous times, including the recent one where he posted a troubling 4.70 ERA and a 1.304 WHIP. The frustration boils over as fans check that he posted a 9.00 ERA over five career starts against the Brewers.

‘So everyone except for Counsell knew this was a poor decision’

Many felt the manager was stubborn and refused to see the obvious. One wrote, “So everyone except for Counsell knew this was a poor decision…that’s concerning.”

Matthew Boyd has his own poor history when he started after just 3 days’ rest, and his career stats against Milwaukee were more frightening. Even in his otherwise fantastic 2025 season, Boyd struggled against them, posting a 7.84 ERA in his last two outings. That’s why one fan repeated the same feeling.

“3 days rest against a team that hits him well, while we’re on the road where Boyd has struggled.”

Some see the physical toll of a long season and know that 5 days’ rest is not a luxury, but a necessity. At least for Matthew Boyd, who threw his most innings this season since 2019 after battling injuries, and his fatigue was already showing, with his ERA ballooning to 5.31 in September.

That’s why another comment read, “Matt needed more rest. It’s not the 1970s anymore. Pitchers can’t pitch on 3 days rest and they’re lucky if they can get to 85 pitches. Not Boyd’s stuff today.”

Some viewed this not just as a bad pitching decision, but as a strategic blunder where Craig Counsell was outplayed by his old team. “Dear Cubs please stop letting your big bad brother goat you into playing his game by his rules! Thank you.” Counsell expected the typically patient Brewers, noting before the series, “They don’t swing.” Knowing this, Brewers manager Pat Murphy—Counsell’s former bench coach—had his team do the exact opposite. They ambushed Boyd from the start, with six of the first eight hitters swinging at the first pitch.

Finally, for some, the frustration transformed into anger. “Fire this OVERRATED manager. Brewers are better without him with a much worse roster than he had…” While calling Counsell overrated is too much, we have to understand how the fans feel as well. Leaving Milwaukee for a rival’s record-setting contract put immense pressure on him to win. Plus, the Brewers thrived without him, winning 97 games. And most importantly, this playoff meltdown felt painfully familiar to his tenure in Milwaukee, where his teams often underperformed in October.

But was the collapse all on the manager?