Cubs Definitely Have to Start Yu Darvish if They're Stuck With Wild Card Game

As things currently stand in the NL Central, the St. Louis Cardinals (82-64) have a four-game lead on the likes of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs. It's not an ideal distance with just over two weeks left in the 2019 season, but it's surely enough to have the Redbirds feeling confident in their chances to come out on top.

Therefore, the Cubbies and Brewers are presumably going to slug it out for the second Wild Card spot (the Nationals presently have a three-game advantage over both clubs).

Assuming Joe Maddon's club -- with the injury to Christian Yelich -- beats out Milwaukee, the Cubbies will likely have no choice but to call upon Yu Darvish for the potential one-game playoff.

In desperate need of a win Thursday against the Padres -- their lead in the WC standings would have shrunk to just one game with a loss -- Darvish took to the mound and spun an absolute gem.

Across six innings of work, the four-time All-Star fanned 14 batters (a season high) while allowing just two hits and two walks.

Answer this Wrigley Field devotees: who else in the rotation do you trust in a big game? Jon Lester has been nothing short of abominable this season; the 35-year-old Cole Hamels hasn't been much better, even though he has previous experience in high-leverage scenarios; and Kyle Hendricks' stuff just hasn't been as dominant as Darvish's.

It certainly fluctuates but there's no doubting that Darvish boasts the best stuff amongst Chicago's current compilation of arms. If he pitches similarly to today in his final two starts to close the season, he will force Maddon's hand to give him the ball for the Cubs' biggest game of the year.