The Cubs come back from another ugly road trip, and welcome the New York Mets. Yes, Anthony Rizzo is possibly going to be promoted during this series, but, in theory, there are other things going on as well. Maybe that’s just me trying to deflect some of the crushing attention this kid is going to receive…
But, since I’m going to Tuesday and Wednesday’s games, you better believe I’m hoping that’s when he is called up.
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 have lost four in a row, and are back to the .333 winning percentage that seems to be the 2012 team’s birth right. The Cubs are 1.5 games “up” on the Padres for the worst record in baseball.
The Mets dropped back-to-back one-run games to the Yankees, after winning four straight, including a sweep of the Orioles. The Mets have been a surprise this year, and currently hold the second Wild Card spot with a 39-34 record.
Game Times and Broadcasts
- Monday, June 25 at 7:05 CT on CSN+.
- Tuesday, June 26 at 7:05 CT on WCIU.
- Wednesday, June 27 at 1:20 CT on CSN.
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: Travis Wood (1-3, 4.14), Randy Wells (1-2, 4.91), Jeff Samardzija (5-6, 4.34)
Lineup:
- David DeJesus, CF
- Starlin Castro, SS
- Bryan LaHair, RF
- Alfonso Soriano, LF
- Steve Clevenger, 1B (Anthony Rizzo?)
- Darwin Barney, 2B
- Geovany Soto, C
- Luis Valbuena, 3B
- Pitcher
Mets
Starters: Johan Santana (5-3, 3.00), Dillon Gee (5-5, 4.27), Jon Niese (5-3, 3.75)
Lineup:
- Andres Torres/Krik Nieuwenhuis, CF
- Ruben Tejada, SS
- David Wright, 3B
- Scott Hairston, LF
- Lucas Duda, RF
- Justin Turner, 1B
- Ronny Cedeno, 2B
- Josh Thole, C
- Pitcher
Hot or Not and Whom to Watch
David DeJesus continues to have a rough June, despite a 4 for 5 game on Saturday. He’s hit just .203/.312/.344 on the month.
Travis Wood may be 1-3 with a mere 4.14 ERA on the year, but he’s given up three or fewer runs in six of his seven starts this year, and four of those seven starts have been quality starts. In his last four starts, his ERA is under three.
Geovany Soto is .211/.286/.526 since returning from knee surgery. It’s just five games, and obviously the average could stand to come up, but it’s a start.
The Cubs are 3 for their last 32 with runners in scoring position. I know it’s a fluky stat, subject to wild swings, but, like, that’s just so very bad.
David Wright is destroying the ball this year. He’s hitting .360(!) with a .455(!) OBP. He’s slugging .565, and it’s pretty clear now that whatever struggles he had in recent years were almost wholly injury related.
The second best hitter on the Mets is Lucas Duda, which is nothing something I would have guessed. He even leads the team in homers (11).
After his no-hitter, Johan Santana gave up 10 runs in his next 10 innings (who could have seen that coming, right? guy recovering from shoulder surgery throws 140-some pitches, and then he struggles? no way!), but his last start was excellent – six shutout innings, and just four hits and two walks.
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.
Well, I certainly didn’t want it to happen, but Brooklyn Decker is out as the Cubs’ rep after the team was swept by the Diamondbacks (and the Arizona State cheerleaders). For the Cubs’ next rep, they clearly need someone strong. Or that’s just my flimsy excuse to use former wrestler and current hottie Stacy Keibler as the team’s representative for this series. So, there she is.
As for the Mets, how about the beautiful Cobie Smulders from ‘How I Met Your Mother’? Her show is set in New York, and that’s good enough for me.
versus
That is such an ugly logo for the mets! It looks like the sort of thing you would see in a nightmare….
the mets lineup on paper looks about as intimidating as a tball lineup, but i bet they hit the shit out of the ball this series. come on cubs no more sweeps, lets get back to our solid ways of winning one of out of every three games!
I hope it turns out Cobie Smulders is a Cubs fan, so she could be our rep…goddess material
I agree. Brett is almost setting us up to fail…. First an entire group
of cheerleaders and now this? I mean c’mon we barely stand a chance
Comment box upgrade?!?
Anyway- when did everybody change their mind about Rizzo being called up on the road? I thought that was one way to try and ease him in?
There were some comments in another thread about #1 pitchers not always pitching against the #1 on another team. Travis Wood’s last 3 pitching opponents; Justin Verlander, Jake Peavy and Santana.
He must of pissed off the gods somewhere.
OMG I lol’ed. This is hilariously true—and yet sad.
Cobie smulders>keibler. Even though she’s Canadian
In case anyone is wondering….Rizzo is in the lineup today for the Iowa Cubs. So it looks like it will be a little while longer before he is called up…..unless he is called up after the game tonight.
Irony.
We don’t need him in Chicago we’ve got Baker to handle tough Lefties like Santana this evening…
Rizzo just got taken out of the day game in Iowa after the 4th inning.
Rissoles just taken out of game after second AB. Announcers said that could be his last AB as an Iowa cub
BTW – A rissole does taste good
A rissole (from Latin russeolus, meaning reddish, via French in which “rissoler” means “to [make] redden”) is a small croquette, enclosed in pastry or rolled in breadcrumbs, usually baked or deep fried.[1] It is filled with sweet or savory ingredients,[1] most often minced meat or fish, and is served as an entrée, main course, dessert or side dish.
Auto correct sorry Rizzo
He could get called up today then??
He did get called up today.
Cubs Den just reported the following http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-den/2012/06/anthony-rizzo-on-his-way-to-chicago/
Squeal Time!
Actually after 3 innings. He put one out to the wall to end the inning and was waiting for his glove and hat when they called him back in, much to his surprise. Looked like he had some serious butterflies to go along with his giant smile. He knows what is going on…gonna miss him. The last ball he threw into the stands today was to my daughter. Pretty f’ing neat. He just walked to the clubhouse with his bats. Class act. Again, gonna miss him.
Awesome! Always neat to see the real reactions of players. Let Rizz-O-Rama begin!
He will be in the clubhouse for today’s game, just not playing?
so i’m assuming Brett is writing his squeal post about Rizzo as we type
guess I missed the UPDATE, but I still expect a SQUEAL post
Will he be #44 going to order a rizzo jersey tonight if I can
He better be, that was the number I ordered.
I thought about that as well. There’s no reason he shouldn’t be 44. Unless of course he wants another number.
This is pressing our luck I know but what about Vitters? He is now at .291 hitting his 12 HR on the year. He’s got to be close behind.
With rizzo and Stacy we should win this series.
The only platoon I would like to see Sveum use is a Barney/Cardenas one.
Byrd news. Who would have guessed?
MLB Public Relations @MLB_PR
Free agent OF Marlon Byrd has received a 50-game suspension after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.
Retweeted by Doug Padilla
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He must have been desperate…this saddens me
I thought ped’s were suppose to make you better. Weird..
Tamoxifen – an anti-estrogen drug. Not really any way to spin that into a false-positive or explain it away…Too bad
the drug is used for cancer prevention.
Big shocker. What are the chances he claims the PED was a substance unknown to him in the ink of that Teddy Roosevelt speech tattoo he got on his arm last winter. You know, the one that started at his elbow and rambled all the way down his foremarm. Some random speech quote about never giving in…
stacey hands down…by the way i dont even read the series preview anymore i just go straight to she view…well done sir.
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[...] The Series Preview for this series lives here. [...]
[...] The Series Preview for this series lives here. [...]