NEWSLETTER
Today marks the third straight day I’ll be at the Cubs game, and so far, I’m 1-1 on the season. I’d really like to get my attendance record off to a good start, so I’m really pulling for the Cubs in today’s rubber match.
Speaking of rubber, Kyle Hendricks will be toeing it shortly in the series finale. He’s made two starts so far this season, and, like every Cubs starter, he has one good one (6.0 IP, 4H, 1ER, 3BB, 5K) and one bad one (5.0 IP, 9H, 4ER, 1BB, 1K) to his name. Hopefully, he bounces back from his start in Milwaukee and brings the Pirates within one game of the Cubs.
Starting opposite Hendricks is 25-year-old righty Trevor Williams. As we explored in the Pre-Gamin’ post, Williams has been a lot tougher on righties (.300 wOBA) than lefties (.340 wOBA) for his career, so we’ll look to Kyle Schwarber as a potentially good bet for some offense today.
Speaking of which, we’ll have to check in later on, but Schwarber’s early season slash line doesn’t really look great .212/.316/.455 on the surface (especially with the 31.6% strikeout rate), but it’s actually been about 8% better than the league average and he’s walking at a ridiculous 13.2% clip. Since he hasn’t even reached 40 plate appearances yet, I’d say a good today at the plate today can rocket up his numbers.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (6-5) at Pittsburgh Pirates (8-3) – 7:05 CT on NBC Sports Chicago, MLBN (out-of-market only), 670 The Score
Game Thread and Series Preview
Your game thread is down in the comments, so let’s have some good, clean (safe-for-work) fun today.
Starting Pitchers
Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (R): 4.09 ERA, 5.71 FIP; 1.50 K/BB
versus
Pirates: Trevor Williams (R): 1.59 ERA, 3.78 FIP; 0.83 K/BB
Pittsburgh Pirates Lineup:
- Adam Frazier, 2B
- Gregory Polanco, RF
- Starling Marte, CF
- Josh Bell, 1B
- Corey Dickerson, LF
- Francisco Cervelli, C
- Colin Moran, 3B
- Jordy Mercer, SS
- Trevor Williams, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Ian Happ, CF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Ben Zobrist, 1B
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Addison Russell, SS
- Victor Caratini, C
- Javy Baez, 2B
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Kyle Hendricks, P
