It’s the Battle of Beautiful Locks tonight as Jeff Samardzija’s wild mane takes on Bronso Arroyo’s well-coiffed perm. That is assuming the weather holds up – there is a line of storms moving through southern Ohio.
Blake DeWitt draws another start at second base. Hmm.
UPDATE: We’re in a rain delay, with a *possible* start time of 7pm CT, but we’ll see how it goes, as there’s another round of storms coming after this one. Could be a late night, kiddos.
UPDATE 2: Well, I was right to be skeptical. No time for a start yet. The two main systems have passed, but the tarp is still on the field in the fear that another system is bubbling up.
UPDATE 3: Sad trombone. The rain wins, and the game has been postponed. No makeup date yet announced.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (8-15) at Cincinnati Reds (11-11), 6:10pm CT on CSN+.
Game Thread and Series Preview
The Game Thread lives here. You should participate in the madness. And, of course, for those who aren’t into message board-style game threads, please feel free to use the comments on this post for your in-game commentary/outbursts.
The Series Preview for this series lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Jeff Samardzija (2-1, 4.13 ERA, 2.41 FIP)
versus
Bronson Arroyo (1-0, 2.70 ERA, 0.68 BB/9)
Cincinnati Reds Lineup
1. Zack Cozart, SS
2. Drew Stubbs, CF
3. Joey Votto, 1B
4. Brandon Phillips, 2B
5. Jay Bruce, RF
6. Scott Rolen, 3B
7. Chris Heisey, LF
8. Ryan Hanigan, C
9. Bronson Arroyo, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. David DeJesus, RF
2. Tony Campana, CF
3. Starlin Castro, SS
4. Bryan LaHair, 1B
5. Alfonso Soriano, LF
6. Ian Stewart, 3B
7. Blake DeWitt, 2B
8. Geovany Soto, C
9. Jeff Samardzija, P
“Blake DeWitt draws another start at second base. Hmm.”
You misspelled “WTF”.
trade?
Wait, why is DeWitt starting?
Um, yeah.
Batting .360 vs Arroyo with a double and 2 HRs.
O.k., so give him the start today, but not last night. Eh, I’m angry, but I’ll be pulling for him. It would be nice if his bat woke up along with Sori’s, Stewart’s and Soto’s.
I hear you; the lesser of two evils me thinks.
I am really hoping he is getting the start because some team is interested and these back to back starts are his audition.
Maybe Vance Worley and Bronson Arroyo both own Darwin Barney??
I’m all for playing the numbers, but not when the alternative is named Blake DeWitt.
Last 7 days Barney is hitting .105; career .143 against Arroyo. Short of bringing up Cardenas and giving him a shot seems like a solid move.
The “sample size” issue cuts both ways. Just as Barney’s first 6 weeks and putative “clutch” hitting last year were just stochastic variants with small sample sizes, his performances over the last 7 games and against any one pitcher are the same. Indeed, Barney has played so little ball that you cannot get “significant” numbers on classes of pitchers yet: that will take another couple of years.
That being said, I suspect that the runs Cardenas would generate with his bat relative to Barney would outweigh the runs that he would allow with his glove relative to Barney. But that is not based on just the last week!
No doubt, my response was to why DeWitt is starting. Not saying Barney won’t break out of his 7 game slump or won’t eventually hit better against Arroyo. Just that in makes sense to give DeWitt a shot given his limited success.
Wow, that makes me angry. Mather performs and can’t get two starts in a row to save his life. DeWitt goes .120 on the month and starts twice in a row? WTF indeed.
Long time reader, first time poster. Love the site and I check it multiple times/day. Thanks, Brett (and Luke for the minor league updates).
I believe DeWitt is 7-19 w/2 hrs against Arroyo. Small sample size but I’m assuming it’s the reason for his inclusion in tonight’s starting lineup.
Thanks for the input, Mr Lake. That probably explains it.
Welcome. Love the name.
Think if Soto started smoking the green again he’d be able to get a hit more than once every 8 at bats?
Maybe he is smoking the green…it’s not tested for on the big league level.
He always looks high.
I saw that the Indians released Jose Lopez..the guy has a good glove.. Think Theo Co mite look into it considering out troubles at 3rd base?
Not a chance, IMO
Soto’s record behind the plate in the last ten games is 3-7. Two of those wins were walk-offs by Mather and Soriano. Oh, and he’s batting well below the Mendoza (Uecker) line. How long does Dale stick with Soto? If Clevenger was available would he be getting more starts? Did anyone see Castillo gun down a runner after a ball in the dirt a few nights ago? I’m confident he can limit base-stealing threats much better than Soto can.
Castillo has a cannon. He’s also gone 0-7 during his first two games as a Cub this season with 4 strikeouts, and he looked bad doing it. I’d rather have Soto…at least he walks.
The most important thing I want to know about Soto is whether or not he’ll punch a White Sox player in the face when the time comes.
He will, as long as his face is off-limits for a return punch.
In any other season fans could hope for and expect a 5-10 game winning streak sometime during season which is enough of a bump for 3 million attendance. I just cant see it happening with this team. Cubs need at least 2 outfielders, 6 pitchers, 3/4 of an infield, and a catcher. If attendance passes 2 million, Ricketts should thank the baseball gods.
3/4 of an infield…
That means you are suggesting the cubs dump either Castro or LaHair… Have you been watching the Cubs this year?
Or, perhaps you are implying that they bring back Fontenot or call up torreyes.
Some Rain Delay Theater captioning going on at the BN Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151017528218902&set=a.10150181807843902.365785.295975523901&type=1
I love the “O’Doyle Rules’ captain.
Stupid rain
For all the Blake Dewitt haters, I have two words for you..
Neifi Perez..
That pear looking motherf*cker was the only one who’d bunt in the bottom of the 9th with us losing 5-3, with runners on first and third and 2 outs.
No update, by the way. Tarp still on the field, rain has passed, but another system might be coming.
If they wait for that second front to pass its going to be at least an hour before the game starts.
Officially postponed.
Just got postponed
So do they push back the Shark’s start to tomorrow or do they go with the originally scheduled Maholm start?
My guess is they play a DH tomorrowor Thursday. You pitch Shark tomorrow either way. Then if the DH is tomorrow, youn pitch Maholm in game 2 and then Wells Thursday. If the Cubs want to send Wells down, they can pitch him Thursday and still beat the option deadline of Friday. If the DH is Thursday, then Wells and Maholm goes Thursday. Either way, Shark gets an extra day of rest.
I would have been ticked if I was a fan there waiting for 2 hours. What, they don’t have radar available at the stadium? They knew it was going to rain, so they wait, and when it stops raining, they cancel the game. Guy with the Reds said on TV said it was because there was to much water on the field. Yeah, that happens when you know it is going to rain for two hours. Duh.
It was retarded. They waited 35 minutes after the rain stopped to test the field then another 20 before announcing anything
For Cub fans looking for some baseball tonight, the Iowa Cubs are pounding the Cardinals AAA team. Jackson is three for three with 2 doubles. Rizzo had another hit, pitching around him most of the game. His average is at .386 now. And Adrian Cardenas with another knock, he is at .346. These guys can play.
Iowa killed Memphis 13-4,
BJax went 4-5, 2 doubles, 2 RBI and increased his avg. to .266
Rizzo went 1-5 with 1 RBI and a walk and has an average of .374
Cardenas went 3-5 with 3 RBI and has an average of .354
I understand the situations of Jackson and Rizzo, but the hell is Cardenas not up and replacing DeWitt and splitting time with Barney?