The Cubs have a pretty big rubber match on tap later this afternoon, and they’re going with a pretty different look for it.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Ben Zobrist, 2B
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Tommy La Stella, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Ian Happ, CF
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Javy Baez, SS
- Chris Gimenez, C
- Mike Montgomery, P
So first thing’s first: right-hander Jhoulys Chacin is starting for the Brewers today and he’s been absolutely brutal on right-handers this season (.239 wOBA). At the same time, he’s actually been very reachable for lefties (.349 wOBA), so Joe Maddon has decided to shake things up.
On the bench today, you’ll find right-handed starters Addison Russell, Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras, and Albert Almora.
In their place you’ll find Javy Baez covering shortstop (he’s actually still hitting righties better than lefties this season), Tommy La Stella manning third, Chris Gimenez squatting behind the plate (he also hit righties significantly better than lefties last year), and Ian Happ out in center field. Ben Zobrist, meanwhile, covers second base for Baez. So all together, six of the Cubs eight hitters will hit from the left side of the plate today and the other two have had reverse splits this season.
With the scheduled off day tomorrow, getting the regulars a day off is even more obvious (we know Maddon loves to give guys the day off before or after an off-day to extend the R&R). Sometimes, his lineup decisions aren’t really all that hard to decipher.
As for Bryant, specifically, I’m glad he’s getting the day off. I think he’ll be just fine soon enough, but he is in the middle of a pretty deep slump, on which we’ll have more soon. In the meantime, there’s the lineup, and, as usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ closer to game time.