Dan Straily makes his Chicago Cubs debut today after turning things around at AAA Iowa, following his July acquisition by the Cubs. Unfortunately, I’ll be at the Under Armour All-American Game at the same time as this game tonight, so I’ll just have to try and follow along on my phone, and watch a replay of Straily’s stuff tomorrow.
As I’ve mentioned before, velocity is key with Straily – his early-season struggles coincided with a steep drop in the 80s on his four-seamer, and his recent improvements coincided with a return to the low-90s.
It’s growing tedious, but the strikeout conversation will continue as long as the Cubs keep, you know, striking out a dozen+ times a game. Is today the day they keep it under, say, 10 strikeouts? And maybe a few walks, too?
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (52-69) at New York Mets (58-65), 6:10 CT on WGN
Game Thread and Series Preview
Game threads now live here in the comments – and with Disqus, they should be even more enjoyable.
The Series Preview lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Dan Straily (Cubs Debut)
versus
Jon Niese (3.46 ERA, 3.84 FIP, 3.85 xFIP; 2.59 K/BB)
New York Mets Lineup
1. Curtis Granderson, RF
2. Daniel Murphy, 2B
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Lucas Duda, 1B
5. Travis d’Arnaud, C
6. Matt den Dekker, LF
7. Juan Lagares, CF
8. Wilmer Flores, SS
9. Jon Niese, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Chris Coghlan, LF
2. Javier Baez, 2B
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Starlin Castro, SS
5. Justin Ruggiano, RF
6. Arismendy Alcantara, CF
7. Welington Castillo, C
8. Chris Valaika, 3B
9. Dan Straily, P