The Chicago Cubs have a game to win tonight – less they be swept by the Cardinals – and here’s the group that’ll try.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:Â
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Ben Zobrist, RF
- Jason Heyward, CF
- Javy Baez, 2B
- Willson Contreras, C
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Addison Russell, SS
- Kyle Hendricks, P
- David Bote, 3B
Tonight’s Cardinals starter, John Gant, is a right-handed swing-man, whose last start came against the Cubs (more on that one in the pre-gamin’ post later on) last weekend.
For now, know that he tends to fare a lot better against lefties (.286 wOBA) than righties (.243 wOBA), but both types of hitters have clearly had their fair share of struggles against him this season. Hopefully, however, after seeing Gant last weekend, the Cubs have the drop on some of his stuff.
In today’s lineup, Albert Almora and Ian Happ get the rare, coinciding day off, as Ben Zobrist covers right (pushing Jason Heyward over to center) and Kyle Schwarber plays left. That leaves David Bote at third to cover for Kris Bryant and everyone else is in their usual spots. Notably, that includes Addison Russel, who’s gotten back-to-back days off before today. I guess he really was just banged up.
Anthony Rizzo continues to lead off and the Cubs will now try to avoid their second three-game sweep at the hands of the Cardinals this season. As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (7:05 CT).