Series Preview: Phillies v. Cubs, May 16 – May 17, 2012

The Cubs head home to Chicago after a 1-1 series split in St. Louis (coulda, woulda, shoulda) to take on the Phillies for two games (and I’ll be there!).

By way of reminder, the Series Preview hooks you up with what you need to know about every series this year – streaks, broadcast information, pitchers, expected lineups, etc. That way, if you want to check only one place to get a sense about an upcoming series, or to plan ahead, you’ve got it. Oh, and there will be pictures of beautiful women, too.

We’re Going Streaking

The Cubs split in St. Louis after losing two of three in Milwaukee, and they stand at 15 and 21, six games out in the NL Central.

The Phillies have won three in a row and four of five after a nasty stretch that saw a few moments of clubhouse unrest, and saw the Phillies’ GM start talking about being sellers at the deadline.

Game Times and Broadcasts

• Wednesday, May 16 at 7:05 CT on CSN.
• Thursday, May 17 at 7:05 CT on WGN.

Expected Starters and Lineups

These lineups are likely to be pretty close to what actually gets fielded, but you’ll want to check each day’s Pre-Gamin’ post for the actual lineup.

Cubs

Starters: Matt Garza (2-1, 2.56), Chris Volstad (0-5, 6.92)

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. Geovany Soto, C
8. Darwin Barney, 2B
9. Pitcher

Phillies

Starters: Kyle Kendrick (0-3, 7.32), Roy Halladay (3-3, 3.20)

Lineups:

1. Jimmy Rollins, SS
2. Juan Pierre, LF Pete Orr, 2B
3. Shane Victorino, CF
4. Hunter Pence, RF
5. Ty Wigginton/Placido Polanco, 3B
6. John Mayberry, 1B
7. Freddy Galvis, 2B
8. Brian Schneider/Carlos Ruiz, C
9. Pitcher

Hot or Not and Whom to Watch

Guess who’s hot? Darwin Barney! In his last seven games (before yesterday’s game), he’s got a .292/.414/.500 line. His OPS still stands below .700 at .685, though.

This is your reminder of Bryan LaHair’s season line: .356/.452/.702. His BABIP is down to .444. If that number continues to fall at a more rapid pace than LaHair’s overall numbers, we’ll have another piece of information suggesting he’s legit.

Don’t look now, but Alfonso Soriano’s May line now reads .295/.367/.477. That’s, like, good.

Carlos Ruiz continues to kill it for the Phillies (so he’ll probably be batting higher than you see in that general lineup up there), hitting .337/.379/.577 on the year.

Hunter Pence was super hot during a nine-game hitting streak, but in the seven games since then (again, before yesterday’s game), he’s hitting just .111/.226/.296.

Roy Halladay, in his four starts since facing the Cubs last month (including that start), has a 5.13 ERA.

Series She-View

The Series She-View is one beautiful woman representing the Cubs taking on another (usually) beautiful woman representing the opponent. The Cubs’ representative will change as the team’s needs change – in other words, if the Cubs are winning, the rep will stay the same. But if the Cubs’ performance calls for a change, someone new will step in. The opponent’s representative will change from series to series, at my whim. But at least she’ll probably be wearing the opponent’s colors or have some connection to the team or something like that. It is immature, and the connection to baseball is tenuous at best. These things, I know.

With yet another series non-loss under her belt, Marisa Miller is easily the most successful representative of the year. She stays for at least one more series.

As for the Phillies, how about Rihanna? There’s no Philadelphia connection of which I’m aware, but she’s pretty and she’s in that new ‘Battleship’ movie about aliens for some ridiculous reason.

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