When the Cubs posted their lineup earlier this morning, it was, at first, a bit surprising to see Albert Almora in there against the righty, Anibal Sanchez. But Sanchez is a reverse split righty, which presented the perfect opportunity to get Almora some more chances against a right-hander under the best possible circumstances.
Unfortunately, Almora is still dealing with an illness and has been scratched from the game. Here’s the new lineup.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Ian Happ, CF
- Tommy La Stella, 3B
- Kris Bryant, 1B
- Willson Contreras, C
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Addison Russell, SS
- Javy Baez, 2B
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Yu Darvish, P
Note: With Anthony Rizzo already on the DL and Almora now out of action, the Cubs’ bench is comprised of back-up catcher Victor Caratini, infielder Efren Navarro, and infielder/outfielder Ben Zobrist. So don’t be surprised if you don’t see a lot of pinch-hitting and double-switching today.
Which reminds me, let’s also pull for a nice, long Yu Darvish start (so fewer substitutions are needed), and general health all the way around.
As for the rest of the lineup, it’s the same as previously-announced, with the exception of Ian Happ taking over for Almora. And, no, despite Sanchez’s reverse splits, Happ will still take the at-bat as a lefty (he’s better from that side anyway). Hopefully, he can build off a solid game yesterday and get some momentum from this unexpected opportunity.