Chris Bosio Offering A Glimpse Into Cubs' Postseason Roster? Pitching Has Carried Us, 'Offense Is A Luxury'

(CBS) In last year's NLDS and NLCS, the Cubs included 11 pitchers on their 25-man roster.

If the words of Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio are any indication, expect that to be different this season.

"We're going to need them all," Bosio said on the Mully and Hanley Show on Wednesday morning. "I don't know what their roles are going to be right now, but basically the 12 guys we broke camp with, we're going to need all 12 of them. Maybe 13 -- it depends on what Joe wants to do, if he wants to carry an extra bat because of the short series in the first series. I know the dates. I already got all the playoff dates. You guys know me -- I've looked at this thing all the way to the very end already. You have to when you get preparing for the playoffs. You look at every scenario, every number, how they do against righties, how they do against righties on the road or at home, how they do with temperature change, how they do against lefties, how they do when a lefty pitches pitches first in a series or second in a series. So there's a bunch of stuff that we've got to go over and discuss, and we'll sit down and talk about it in the upcoming week to be prepared to line your guys up here in the last couple starts of the season."

With the Cubs holding a 15.5-game lead in the NL Central with 24 contests left, a main topic of conversation has been how they'll fill out their postseason roster. Chicago has carried three catchers for much of the season, as several of its starting pitchers have a preference on who they work with. Left-hander Jon Lester's personal catcher is David Ross, and right-hander Jake Arrieta enjoys working with Miguel Montero. Rookie Willson Contreras, however, is the best hitter of those three, and in recent weeks he's worked in behind the plate more, including catching Arrieta. Recently, more was added to the equation when Montero has hit better after a season-long struggle offensively.

Asked directly about the three-catcher situation, Bosio's response indicated the Cubs would be willing to carry all three catchers on their postseason roster if it makes their pitchers happy.

"Starting pitchers have carried us all year," Bosio said. "It's the reason we're in this position. Offense is a luxury. We're averaging the least amount of pitches per start in all of baseball. We're also throwing the least amount of pitches in our bullpen. So our formula is working, and I imagine we'll probably stick to our guns and do the same thing and play the matchup game as we get ready for the playoffs and try to figure out who will play and how we'll go about it."

Listen to Bosio's full interview below.