The Chicago Cubs will try to win their fifth straight contest tonight, for the first time this season.
And here’s how they’ll look.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:Â
- Albert Almora Jr., CF
- Javy Baez, 2B
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Willson Contreras, C
- Ben Zobrist, RF
- Addison Russell, SS
- Ian Happ, LF
- Jon Lester, P
Against the left-hander, Kyle Freeland, the Chicago Cubs are going with their right-handed group (i.e. minus Kyle Schwarber and Jason Heyward; plus Ben Zobrist and Ian Happ), and for good reason:
Freeland’s Career Splits:
Versus Lefties: .260/.320/.429 (.319 wOBA)
Versus Righties: .272/.358/.441 (.344 wOBA)
Clearly, Freeland doesn’t dominate lefties – by any means – but he certainly does a whole lot worse against righties, particularly when it comes to plate discipline. Check this out …
More Freeland’s Splits:
Versus Lefties: 29.7 K%; 6.6 BB%
Versus Righties: 12.6 K%, 10.00 BB%
Against lefties, Freeland’s strikeout rate more than doubles, while his walk rate is nearly cut in half. Getting Schwarber, in particular, out of this one, then, makes plenty of sense. Similarly, if you have Albert Almora or Javy Baez on your fantasy team, now would be a good day to start them.
In a rare day for the Cubs, Anthony Rizzo will be the only position player swinging it from the left side of the plate. With Schwarber, Heyward, Happ, and Zobrist all natural (or capable) of swinging it as a southpaw, this doesn’t happen that often.
Everything else is pretty usual, though, and we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ closer to game time (6:05 CT).