The Cubs didn’t kick off their brief six-game road trip by inspiring much confidence last night, but they’ll try again this evening with yet another new take on the lineup.
Here’s who’ll be out there against the Dodgers today:
- Jon Jay, CF
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Ian Happ, 2B
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Miguel Montero, C
- Addison Russell, SS
- John Lackey, P
Jon Jay is leading off and playing center field today, but that doesn’t mean the bench for Ian Happ. Instead, Happ stays out there at second base, meaning that both Ben Zobrist and Javy Baez are out of the starting lineup. Weird. That probably won’t happen too many times this year.
In addition, Kyle Schwarber’s back out there and in left field, though he may be out against Clayton Kershaw (perhaps the single toughest lefty) again tomorrow, because of the platoon. Miguel Montero is back behind the plate, catching John Lackey, but it’s worth pointing out that he’s massively cooled off since his hot start to the season (May: .250/.290/.393).
Let’s see if the Cubs’ bats can get something going today, because last night was a bit of a let down. As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ closer to game time (6:15 CT).