Joe Maddon on those left off playoff roster: 'They have been great'

If they're unhappy, Joe Maddon doesn't know it.

All Cubs starting pitcher Jason Hammel and utility outfielder Matt Szczur have been able to do during the team's postseason run is clap their hands. Neither has been on either the division series or championship series 25-man rosters, though both spent all season with the club.

"If they have been upset, they haven't demonstrated that to me or anybody else," the Cubs manager said Saturday before Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers. "I'm sure they are internally upset, but they have been great."

And, Maddon said, that's a big reason why the Cubs are where they are for the second consecutive season.

Hammel won a career-best 15 games this season against 10 defeats to go with a 3.83 ERA in 30 starts. But it simply wasn't practical for the Cubs to carry five starters in the postseason. So Hammel, who made some headlines this year when he talked about his potato chip diet helping keep him hydrated, was an odd man out.

"Going into this, you have to make your best guesses right now," Maddon said. "Things are streamlined a bit. We made our choices based on different skill sets.

"They have been wonderful. I've not heard anything negative."

Szczur, who has a grand slam off Game 2 starter Clayton Kershaw on his resume, had 12 pinch hits this season. He also played all three outfield positions and started 29 games. Overall, he batted .259 with five home runs and 24 RBIs.

Earlier this season, Szczur said he had become comfortable with his spot as a backup but admitted it was trying in the beginning going from being an everyday player for most of his career to a reserve.

"Yeah, it is tough," he said. "But I'm at the highest level with the best team in the game. It's frustrating but I've embraced my role. I've embraced my target. That's all I have to do when I'm called upon is to deliver."

While Szczur and Hammel were left off the roster for both postseason series, Tommy La Stella's name disappeared from the championship series roster after batting just once in the division series. A team executive informed him of the decision Friday night.

La Stella, who earlier this season opted to go home before reporting directly to Triple-A Iowa as he was assigned, was left off in favor of left-handed relief pitcher Rob Zastryzny. The reason was two-fold: One, the Dodgers struggle mightily against left-handed pitching, against which they batted .213 during the regular season and .157 in the first round of the playoffs.

The other reason?

"He hasn't had at-bats," Maddon said of La Stella. "It has been hard to give him the number of reps. We tried in September."