With a win this afternoon, the Cubs have a chance to secure a series split against the Brewers, which is pretty much the baseline for success during a four-game road set.
Here’s the guys that’ll give it a shot:
- Ian Happ, CF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Willson Contreras, C
- Tommy La Stella, 2B
- Victor Caratini, 1B
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Javy Baez, SS
- Yu Darvish, P
There’s a few notable changes to today’s lineup, but the most important is the absence of Anthony Rizzo. If you remember, Rizzo was a late-scratch from yesterday’s game as he dealt with some back soreness, and Joe Maddon said he might take the day off today, too. Like we said yesterday, an abundance of caution at this point in the year is no bad thing.
Also like yesterday, Victor Caratini will be taking his place on the field, while Kyle Schwarber takes his place in the lineup. Elsewhere, Addison Russell is getting the day off at short, which means Javy Baez is shifting over from second and Tommy La Stella is getting his first start of the season. Given the opposing starter’s traditional splits, an extra lefty bat sounds good to me.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ closer to game time (3:05 CT).