Chicago Cubs Lineup: Willson Contreras Starts at First Base
The Cubs head to Miami to try and shake off the ugly Cardinals series. They’ll face a lefty tonight, and it’s a fun lineup …
Chicago Cubs Lineup vs. Miami Marlins (Wei-Yin Chen):
- Ben Zobrist, 2B
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Kris Bryant, LF
- Willson Contreras, 1B
- Javy Baez, 3B
- Addison Russell, SS
- Albert Almora Jr., CF
- David Ross, C
- Jon Lester, P
Think the Cubs believe in Willson Contreras’s bat? The 24-year-old rookie has done nothing but catch this year, but he’s starting at first base tonight (batting cleanup!). They want that bat in there!
… but, to be fair, Contreras is a killer athlete who was converted to catching (from third base) a few years ago. I think he can probably handle it fine (he has played there a little bit in the minors before this year. There were hints yesterday that Anthony Rizzo (back stiffness) would get tonight’s game off anyway. So this works.
Righties have really hit Chen this year (.271/.322/.510), and he’s got a pronounced split for his career (.288 wOBA against lefties, .336 against righties), so the Cubs get their righties going in this one. And it’s a Jon Lester start, so there’s a bonus David Ross in there.
We’ll have a full Pre-Gamin’ closer to game time.
