Yesterday, the Chicago Cubs knocked the St. Louis Cardinals back to .500 on the season, and today, they’ll look to complete the sweep and push the Cardinals under that mark.
Taking the mound for the Cubs is Kyle Hendricks, who has allowed only four earned runs through his first two starts of the season (12.2 IP). For his career, lefties have hit Hendricks (.317 wOBA) a fair bit better than righties (.260 wOBA), so Hendricks might look to avoid Matt Carpenter, Matt Adams and Kolten Wong as much as possible.
Taking the mound opposite Hendricks is Carlos Martinez. Martinez had two very strange halves in 2015. In the first half of the season, he was achieving much better results (2.52 ERA) than his peripherals suggested (3.53 FIP) he might. Then in the second half, his results ballooned (3.73 ERA), despite stronger peripherals (2.75 FIP). So, over the course of the season, I guess he received just the right amount of everything.
[adinserter block=”1″]For his career, Martinez has been far, far more hittable facing lefties (.339 wOBA) than he has facing righties (.274 wOBA), so Tommy La Stella draws the start at third base via Kris Bryant sliding into left field. In addition, Javier Baez gets the start at shortstop in place of Addison Russell. With today’s start, Baez will have appeared in each of the last five games, while starting in three of them. Work your way in there, Javy!
Let’s go get that early season sweep!
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (11-3) at St. Louis Cardinals (7-7), 12:45 CT on CSN, MLBN, 670 The Score.
Game Thread and Series Preview
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The Series Preview lives here. The Lineup Discussion lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (R)
versus
Cardinals: Carlos Martinez (R)
St. Louis Cardinals Lineup
1. Matt Carpenter, 3B
2. Stephen Piscotty, RF
3. Matt Holliday, LF
4. Matt Adams, 1B
5. Randal Grichuk, CF
6. Yadier Molina, C
7. Kolton Wong, 2B
8. Aledmys Diaz, SS
9. Carlos Martinez, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Dexter Fowler, CF
2. Jason Heyward, RF
3. Ben Zobrist, 2B
4. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
5. Kris Bryant, LF
6. Tommy La Stella, 3B
7. Miguel Montero, C
8. Javy Baez, SS
9. Kyle Hendricks, P