The Cubs are hot, and now welcome the not-so-good Braves to Wrigley Field for the start of a four-game set. Can they turn their three-game winning streak into a four-gamer?
Here’s the group that’ll try:
- Jon Jay, LF
- Ben Zobrist, 2B
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Albert Almora, CF
- Javy Baez, SS
- Ian Happ, RF
- Rene Rivera, C
- Kyle Hendricks, P
Even before you look at tonight’s starter for the Braves, you should be able to tell by the lineup that he must (1) be a lefty, and (2) have pronounced splits. Because that is the seriously-overloaded-right-handed lineup (plus Jay and Rizzo, who do not have big splits).
And what do you know, lefty Sean Newcomb has … eh, well, not enormous splits: .253/.356/.391 against lefties, .245/.363/.454 against righties. But when it comes to the plate discipline numbers, the splits are enormous: he strikes out lefties at a 25.7% clip, but righties at just a 21.2% clip. And walks? Lefties are at 8.9%, while righties are at a whopping 14.8%. Be patient tonight, gents.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ closer to game time (7:05 CT).