The Cubs and Braves square off today (weather permitting! again!) for another try at Jackie Robinson Day, the first of which was rained/colded out last month.
It’s an odd lineup today.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Tommy La Stella, 2B
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Ben Zobrist, RF
- Javy Baez, SS
- Victor Caratini, C
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Albert Almora, CF
- Jose Quintana, P
Looking up and down that lineup, there’s not a coherent thread that I can immediately see as to why certain guys are in and certain guys are out. Keep in mind, there’s a travel day after this one, so that could be a rest-related factor.
Julio Teheran, who is intermittently excellent and awful (fingers crossed for a latter appearance today), is split neutral for his career, but is EXTREMELY split in favor of lefties for his career. So, then, it was probably a good day to get La Stella and Caratini in there. Why Schwarber is hitting down in the order, and why Amora is in? Those are harder to discern.
All in all, though, you gotta get guys playing time, and I’m more or less fine with all of this, because whateves. I like Tommy La Stella anyway.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ closer to game time (1:20 pm CT).