UPDATED: Chicago Cubs playoff rotation

Jon Lester: Now, before you get angry at us for putting Jon Lester in Game 1 of one of the most pivotal games of the season, hear us out. He may not have had the most glorious season, or even a decent season, the fact is he is still good old Jon Lester. Just last season, he was arguably one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, finishing the season with a 19-5 record all while sporting a 2.44 ERA in 32 starts. During the magical run in the postseason last year, he was even better. In 5 starts and a relief appearance he finished 3-1 with a 2.02 ERA, those numbers were good enough to get him voted as the postseason MVP by New York Baseball Writers.

As previously mentioned, Jon Lester has not had the most impressive year so far in 2017, in 31 starts Lester has a 4.46 ERA with only 12 wins. As you can tell, that number is much lower than last year. Part of that is due to an offense that has appeared inept at times. However, most of it is due to Lester missing pitch locations and giving up the long ball, giving up 26 homers compared to 21 last year. Despite not having a good season, Lester still deserves to be the starter for Game 1 against the Nationals. He has proven time and time again that when it comes to postseason baseball, no pitcher does it better than him.