NEWSLETTER
Okay, I’m exaggerating with that title by a half, but this Cubs lineup is certainly not one we’ve seen before. In fact, it almost plays like a list of nine Chicago Cubs players in seemingly random order.
Take a look for yourself:
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Ian Happ, 2B
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Addison Russell, SS
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Willson Contreras, C
- Jon Lester, P
- Albert Almora Jr., CF
When people say things like “the manager should really shake things up,” this is literally what they’re talking about, right?
Although we caught wind of this earlier, seeing Anthony Rizzo leading off is still quite strange. He technically has the skill-set for the role (good plate discipline, on-base skills, sees plenty of pitches, etc.), but as one of just two guys actually producing consistently (along with Kris Bryant), you have to hope this doesn’t throw him off his game.
Jason Heyward hitting clean-up looks almost as weird, but that’s probably only because we’ve been so trained to reserve the clean-up spot for the team’s traditional “power hitter,” which Heyward obviously is not (query whether that actually matters as much as we used to think it does). To be fair, today’s starter for the Mets, Zack Wheeler, has actually been lit up by lefties (.330 wOBA) much more than righties (.286 wOBA) for his career.
So maybe that’s also why Kyle Schwarber’s back up in the middle third of the lineup … or maybe Joe Maddon just dropped a list of Cubs names into a hat and picked them out one by one.
Either way, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ closer to game time (6:10 CT).
