The Cubs’ walking wounded start to re-emerge, as Addison Russell (shoulder) returns to the lineup today for the Cubs. The team must have felt good about his ability to make good, strong throws from shortstop without harm his shoulder further, so that’s good. The Cubs could also use his bat breaking back out.
Here’s the Cubs lineup:
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Ian Happ, RF
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Addison Russell, SS
- Miguel Montero, C
- Tommy La Stella, 3B
- Javy Baez, 2B
- Jake Arrieta, P
- Albert Almora, CF
Ian Happ gets a second start after yesterday’s homer-ful performance. Adam Wainwright is the kind of crafty veteran who can make many a young player look foolish up there, so hopefully Happ is up to the task. Given the Cubs’ other missing bats, they’ll need his offense.
Elsewhere, the Cubs move Javy Baez back to second base and give Jeimer Candelario a day off by switching Tommy La Stella to third.
Even without Kris Bryant, the bodies are there for this lineup to do damage. But it’s going to have to get meaningful contributions from guys like Kyle Schwarber and Anthony Rizzo for that to happen.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ closer to game time (1:15 CT). In the meantime, read about how the slide rule kinda screwed the Cubs, but them’s the breaks.