Cubs taking spring training approach in game vs. Reds (Sep 30, 2017)

CHICAGO -- Cubs manager Joe Maddon said the final two games of the regular season will have more of a spring training feel, with some regulars sitting out while others play limited innings.

Expect Saturday starter Jon Lester to also have a relatively short outing as he makes his 32nd and final regular-season start in Saturday's middle contest of a three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds.

"Just like you saw with Kyle (Hendricks) yesterday, hopefully the same thing with Q (Jose Quintana) today and hopefully with Jonny (Lester) tomorrow, nothing elongated," Maddon said after Friday's game.

Maddon wanted Quintana to work about 80 pitches on Friday and he threw 81 before being removed.

For position players who don't have the day off, Maddon said he'll give them the option to continue into the late innings if they want.

"We're going to treat it more like spring training, maybe three at-bats," Maddon said. "It doesn't have to be a full game. My plan is to talk to them during the course of the game, just like you do in a spring training game."

The left-handed Lester (12-8, 4.46 ERA) has reached 32 starts in each of the last six seasons and will make his fourth start of 2017 against the Reds. He's 1-0 with a 10-13 ERA in three previous starts against Cincinnati, including nine runs in 1 2/3 innings while facing the Reds on Aug. 17 at Wrigley Field.

Lester has limited left-handed batters to a .213 average while righties have batted .274.

In his last start at St. Louis on Monday, he allowed one run in six innings in the Cubs' 10-2 victory.

The Reds will start right-hander Jackson Stephens (2-0, 3.86 ERA).

Stephens is scheduled to make his seventh big-league appearance, including his fourth start and second against the Cubs. In last Sunday's 5-4 loss at Boston, he was in line for this third victory but became a victim of a blown save in the eighth inning as Mookie Betts' two-run double off Raisel Iglesias tied the game at 4-4.

He made his major league debut on July 1 against the Cubs and earned a 5-3 victory while working five innings and allowing three runs on six hits, striking out eight and walking just one.

Stephens also had his first hit and RBI in that memorable game.

"It was unbelievable, a childhood dream going out there and trying to compete," he said after the debut. "Of course there was some butterflies, but it wasn't crazy."

There will be less pressure Saturday as Stephens, one of four rookies currently in Cincinnati's starting rotation, makes his first Wrigley Field appearance.

Looking ahead to Sunday, a scheduled start by Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta has been pulled and he'll instead throw a simulated game next week as he contends with the after-effects of a hamstring strain.

"Just primarily to give his leg more rest, that's what it would be," said Maddon, who said Arrieta might move back in the rotation in the upcoming National League Division Series against the Washington Nationals.