SAN DIEGO — Matthew Boyd will start for the Chicago Cubs against Michael King in Tuesday’s National League Wild Card Series opener, beginning a postseason rematch with the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell announced the choice during Monday’s workout. Boyd enters after allowing one earned run in each of his final two starts, an encouraging finish following a difficult stretch earlier in September.
The left-hander went 10–5 with a 3.91 ERA during the regular season. King finished 12–10 with a 3.21 ERA and gives San Diego a starter with experience succeeding in this round. In the 2024 Wild Card Series against Atlanta, he struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings.
Chicago’s pitching decisions were complicated by the final regular-season schedule and the health of Kevin Gausman’s non-throwing shoulder. David Peterson and Clay Holmes both pitched in Friday’s doubleheader, while Shota Imanaga made a brief appearance Sunday. Those assignments left Counsell weighing recovery time alongside the immediate need to win Game 1.
The Cubs also arrived after an unusually demanding trip. Their closing stretch took them through Chicago, Boston and St. Petersburg before they traveled to San Diego, with weather-related relocation adding another adjustment to the final days of the regular season.
Once the series starts, the focus shifts to a San Diego lineup featuring Fernando Tatis Jr. His late-season power surge included 20 home runs after the All-Star break, accounting for most of his 25 for the year.
King appeared in relief against Chicago in last year’s postseason meeting, striking out three in one inning. This time he gets the opening assignment, with Boyd charged with keeping the Cubs in position to work through their own pitching options.
The two clubs know how quickly this round can turn. A best-of-three series leaves little time to recover from an uneven start, and neither manager can treat the opener as an isolated pitching decision. Boyd’s recent improvement and King’s previous postseason success now move from the preparation notes to the mound.
Sources: Boyd; Cubs; Field Level Media — Cubs–Padres preview.
Related: MLB postseason viewing guide.
