WASHINGTON -- If there’s one thing that seems to separate Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon from other skippers it’s his desire to be ahead of the curve on decisions. It’s not that he doesn’t have faith in his players but he’s simply more likely to pull a pitcher or make a change before damage is done.

Yes, he’s been criticized for getting his starters too early but his strategy has always been sound. How many managers wait until it’s too late? It seems, many.

Maddon is using the same thinking when it comes to the ninth inning. It’s not like Hector Rondon was completely awful but the manager had seen enough. Now he’ll go with a committee as he did in winning three of four games against the Washington Nationals this weekend including a 6-3 victory on Sunday.

“I’m not opposed to that method either,” Maddon said after the game. “I’ll just wait to the day.”

On Sunday it was Jason Motte's turn to finish off the game. On Saturday, Rondon was surprisingly pulled in the ninth after walking the first batter he faced in favor of Pedro Strop while it was Rondon himself who got the save in Thursday’s series opening win. According to ESPN Stats and Information it’s the first time the Cubs had three different relievers record a save in a single series since September 2004 when Ryan Dempster, La Troy Hawkins and Mike Remlinger accomplished it against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“We’re ready whenever the phone rings,” Motte said after recording his first save since the last game of the regular season in 2012.

Can a relief staff get messed up if they don’t know their roles from day-to-day? It wouldn’t be the first time.

“I’ve been through that,” Maddon said. “I think it’s a product of the millennials. I think it’s that generation that really needs definition consistently.

“How’s ‘be ready to pitch in the last three innings?’”

And Maddon hasn’t given up on Rondon either. He pitched a clean eighth inning on Sunday one day after his surprising demotion. He and his manager had a talk before the game.

“We talked mentally how I feel,” Rondon said. “All that kind of thing. We’re on the same page. He said ‘I don’t know if you’re closing or I’ll put you in the game in any situation.’”

Rondon said he came in early on Sunday and did some drills to get his focus back and so far it paid off as setting up a win is just as important as closing one out. And remember one of the main reasons Motte was signed was his experience closing games. It wasn’t a stretch to think he might be needed there -- and his high-velocity fastball screams closer.

“I was ready to go when they took [starter Kyle Hendricks] out until the ninth,” Motte explained. “When Rondon got out of that [eighth] inning they called down. That was my heads up.”

So instead of standing pat with his team which has maintained its place above .500 Maddon has made the adjustment for the ninth inning. Nothing is set in stone but it’s another example of his proactive style. Most of the time it’s refreshing and even when it doesn’t work out the strategy is sound: Nip something in the bud before it starts to lose games for him. It worked for a weekend road series win over a playoff contender. Who can argue with it?