Not too long ago, I alluded to the fact that as much as I think Carlos Zambrano lights more of a fire under this team than even Alfonso Soriano's presence in the lineup, I had my concerns about him being the Game 1 starter in the playoffs.

Zambrano's consistency has been a mystery almost all season. While he's had at least a dozen outings going deep into games and winning them easily and he is the proclaimed "Ace" of the staff, he's felt more like the "Joker" or "Wildcard" recently.

So when Lou Piniella named Ryan Dempster the Game 1 starter for the NLDS beginning next week, I applauded him. A manager like Dusty Baker might have said "He's our No. 1 guy and we're sticking with him" (or maybe I'm just thinking of Lovie Smith...?) but Lou realized that there's no ego with this rotation. 

Dempster has, the most consistently of every Cubs pitcher, gone out and pitched deep into games, especially at home. I've seen Dempster make a few starts at Wrigley this season and anyone else who has can tell you that you have a lot of confidence with him on the mound. Dempster is also shy of a playoff starting experience, which based on his All-Star game outing, I think he will really impress people with. We know what happened to Zambrano last year. I don't want to draw direct comparisons, but this change can't hurt in that sense either.

This is exactly what you have to have in Game 1 of a playoff series. You can't take a gamble on Zambrano being lights out in the first game. However, he is your Game 2 guy, which is just as important. If he should have issues on the mound, the fact that the Cubs have the best rotation in baseball will allow Lou to bring in Ted Lilly or Jason Marquis to try and right any ships that go off course. They'd like to save that move for when Rich Harden pitches, I'm sure, so if Harden throws too many pitches you can replace him with a starter, but I'm sure if Lou had to he would yank Carlos for precautionary reasons. But seriously, imagine an opposing lineup being set to deal with Zambrano or Harden--loaded with lefties--and then bringing in Ted Lilly. Instant advantage.

As the excitement builds for next Thursday, keep a lookout for more playoff prep posts.

October is Cub season.