NEWSLETTER
The Cubs welcome the Marlins to Wrigley Field and the buzz saw. Watch yourself, Marlins.
We’re Going Streaking
The Cubs are BLAZING hot, having just swept the Mets at Wrigley Field. Although the Cubs outscored the Mets by just five runs total in the series, it was enough to do the trick, thanks in large part to a dominant bullpen. It’s been heavily used, though, so hopefully the Cubs can get some deep starts in the next few days.
The Marlins are the surprise team in the NL East, to the chagrin of most of baseball, and they are tied with the Braves atop that division. They, too, are coming off of a sweep – four games over the Rays, sending them below the Cubs for the worst record in baseball – and all of this without Jose Fernandez, who went down last month with an elbow injury.
Game Times and Broadcasts
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: Jason Hammel (2.78 ERA, 3.04 FIP; 4.13 K/BB), Jeff Samardzija (2.54 ERA, 3.02 FIP; 2.91 K/BB), Jake Arrieta (3.00 ERA, 2.93 FIP; 2.15 K/BB)
Lineup (been shuffling a lot lately):
- Emilio Bonifacio, CF
- Junior Lake, LF
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Starlin Castro, SS
- Nate Schierholtz, RF
- Luis Valbuena, 2B
- Mike Olt, 3B
- John Baker, C
- Pitcher
Marlins
Starters: Nathan Eovaldi (3.24 ERA, 3.20 FIP; 4.36 K/BB), Randy Wolf (3.38 ERA, 1.76 FIP; 5.00 K/BB), Henderson Alvarez (2.62 ERA, 3.28 FIP; 2.81 K/BB)
Lineup:
- Christian Yelich, LF
- Ed Lucas, 2B
- Giancarlo Stanton, RF
- Casey McGehee, 3B
- Garrett Jones, 1B
- Marcell Ozuna, CF
- Adeiny Hechavarria, SS
- Jeff Mathis, C
- Pitcher
Hot or Not and Whom to Watch
If I told you that Jake Arrieta has a better FIP than both Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel so far this year, you’d probably take a dump on FIP.
Top bat on the Cubs this year? Yeah, it’s Travis Wood, at .273/.333/.591. Unfortunately, he’s not likely to play this series.
In his last 30 plate appearances, Mike Olt has one hit, four walks, and fifteen strikeouts.
Over his last 18 games, Darwin Barney is hitting .265/.288/.388, which is very much a hot streak.
Justin Ruggiano, despite his slow start and his injury, now has a positive wRC+ (103).
I’m not sure we’ll see him this series, but the Marlins recently called up former farmhand Justin Bour – a big, powerful first baseman, whom the Marlins snagged in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft (making the pick an enormous win) – which is a great story.
Giancarlo Stanton is very much being Gianocarlo Stanton this year: .314/.407/.614. Mercy. Those are MVP numbers.
He’s not alone: virtually every single regular in the Marlins’ lineup has a wRC+ above 100 (average).
