NEWSLETTER
Well, it’s beautiful here in Chicago, with game time temps around 55 degrees and sunny, which should make for beautiful baseball weath … (What’s that? They’re in Cleveland today? And it’s pouring? And the rain is scheduled to continue throughout the night? And this could wind up becoming the Cubs’ sixth postponement of the year? Oh, okay, cool).
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Albert Almora Jr., CF
- Javy Baez, 2B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Willson Contreras, C
- Tommy La Stella, 3B
- Kyle Schwarber, DH
- Addison Russell, SS
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Ian Happ, LF
In the Bullets this morning, Brett succinctly summed up the many contributing factors playing into tonight’s lineup. So let’s start there:
The lineup will be very interesting tonight, as you’ve got a trio of guys who could plausibly sit due to accumulated injury/sickness/need a rest (Kris Bryant, Albert Almora, Addison Russell), you’ve got Ben Zobrist still on the DL, you’ve got the need for a DH, and you’ve got an opposing starter (Josh Tomlin) who used to be an extreme reverse-split guy, but is now pretty split-neutral.
On top of that, I’d add that Anthony Rizzo is relatively fresh of a disabled list stint and the poor weather isn’t doing Joe Maddon (or, more specifically, any of the banged up guys) any favors. But the Cubs figured out a lineup, and, all things considered, it looks pretty good.
The most notable change includes Kris Bryant getting one more day of rest after getting hit in the head with a fastball on Sunday (very understandable, even from a psychological perspective). In his place, Tommy La Stella will grab a start against the righty, Josh Tomlin.
As Brett pointed out, Tomlin has a pretty significant reverse split for his career, but that disappeared last season and in the early going here in 2018. However, with Ben Zobrist on the disabled list and DH spot open for Kyle Schwarber, the Cubs were able to get both Ian Happ and Albert Almora into the lineup anyway, so it all kinda worked out.
And, as you can see, Maddon is sticking with Almora/Javy Baez at the top. Given how successful that duo has been, I don’t think we suspected anything else.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ closer to game time (5:10 CT).
