NEWSLETTER
After his appearance last night, it seemed a formality that Jason Heyward would be back in the lineup today … but it was a formality I really wanted to see.
So, hooray:
- Dexter Fowler, CF
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Kris Bryant, LF
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Ben Zobrist, 2B
- Tommy La Stella, 3B
- Javy Baez, SS
- David Ross, C
- John Lackey, P
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Hopefully Heyward is feeling good, swings the bat well, and the entire wrist issue is a blip on the radar (when the Cubs, incidentally, won four straight games).
Tommy La Stella gets another start today, and it’s hard to argue with it given Max Scherzer’s increasing splits (.368 wOBA against lefties, .224 wOBA against righties) and La Stella’s continued bat-to-ball-hard-contact skills. He’s always been able to do it, he’s just never had a chance to show it in the big leagues (I also think he’s added just a little more pop the last two years, which increases his hits, in addition to, obviously, increasing his slugging).
Kris Bryant stays in the outfield for the seventh straight game, and will appear in the outfield for the 11th time in the last 13 games (he’s appeared at third base in those games, by contrast, just four times).[adinserter block=”2″]
Javy Baez gets back into the mix by spelling Addison Russell, and it’s a reminder of just how handy Baez is to have around. Scherzer presents an especially tough matchup at the plate, but it’s nice to know that the Cubs really don’t lose much, if anything, on defense by sitting one of the best defensive shortstops in the game.
We’ll have a full Pre-Gamin’ closer to the start of the game.
