Tonight’s Cubs game is the first of the rest of the season.
The trade deadline is in the past, and given the unlikelihood of any other moves in August (before the waiver trade deadline, that is), this is the team the Cubs will take with them the rest of the way. I think they’ll make it work.
Kyle Hendricks will kick things off against the Miami Marlins tonight at Wrigley Field, pitching to Willson Contreras behind the plate. Hendricks continues to pitch very well in 2016, and has struck out seven batters in each of his last two starts (total of 12 IP). Contreras, then, catches his second consecutive game, although he eventually moved out to left field in the 10th inning of yesterday’s marathon. Matt Szczur steps into left field, while Javy Baez covers second base for Ben Zobrist.
Opposing Hendricks for the Marlins is left-hander Adam Conley. Conley, 26, has been pitching fairly well, if unspectacularly, for the Marlins in 2016. In 117.1 innings so far, he has a 3.38 ERA (3.79 FIP), a 22.2% strikeout rate, and a 9.3% walk rate. In other words, he’s nothing special, but you’d take those numbers over the course of a whole season from the middle-back of your rotation. Despite pitching from the left side, Conley actually sports reverse splits with lefties (.326 wOBA) hitting him a bit better than righties (.303 wOBA) for his career.
The Cubs have (sorta) not lost a series since the break (White Sox … split? or a win and a loss?), so they’ll look to keep up that streak here in a new month. First pitch is at 7:05 CT.
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Game Info
Chicago Cubs (63-41) at Miami Marlins Mariners (53-48), 7:05 CT on WGN, 670 The Score.
Game Thread and Series Preview
Your game thread is down there in the comments, so let’s have some nice, clean, safe-for-work fun, eh?
The Series Preview lives here. The Lineup Discussion lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (R): 2.39 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 3.72 xFIP; 3.22 K/BB
versus
Marlins: Adam Conley (L): 3.38 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 4.57 xFIP; 2.38 K/BB
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Miami Marlins Lineup:
- Dee Gordon, 2B
- Martin Prado, 3B
- Christian Yelich, LF
- Giancarlo Stanton, RF
- Marcell Ozuna, CF
- J.T. Realmuto, C
- Derek Dietrich, 1B
- Adeiny Hechavarria, SS
- Adam Conley, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Dexter Fowler, CF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Javy Baez, 2B
- Addison Russell, SS
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Willson Contreras, C
- Matt Szczur, LF
- Kyle Hendricks, P
