NEWSLETTER
With Aaron Nola looming on Sunday, the Cubs loss last night was not particularly great. Winning tonight just became that much more important. Fortunately, the Cubs have Kyle Hendricks going and I’m expecting good things.
With that said, I’m a little ticked at myself for not noticing this sooner, but did you realize that Hendricks’ 23.0% soft-hit rate is sixth best in all of Major league Baseball? That’s one spot ahead of the Phillies’ Sunday starter and Cy Young candidate Aaron Nola, and one spot behind Jacob deGrom and Dallas Keuchel.
It’s not like I wouldn’t expect that from him – from 2015 through today, he ranks 5th best in the Majors in that particular stat – but it had lagged behind throughout the year. And in any case, it’s a really excellent sign going forward.
Also a really good sign? Hendricks has gone 7.0 innings in each of his last two starts and at least 6.0 innings in each of his four. That said, those last two lengthy starts were against the Reds and Tigers (not the best teams in baseball). Then again, the Reds (99 wRC+) actually have a far better offense than the Phillies (92 wRC+), so … maybe he can keep it going.
Starting opposite Hendricks is Zach Eflin. Eflin, 24, is in his third Major League season already, and is having a nice year. He tends to keep his walks well under control while striking out a playable, though not formidable, 21.9% of the batters he faces. In each of his last two outings, Eflin generated a TON of ground balls and mostly kept batters away from squaring him up. Hopefully, then, the Cubs can elevate and hit him hard to ruin that pretty stat line.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (78-54) at Philadelphia Phillies (74-58) – Saturday, September 1st at 6:05 CT on CSNC, 670 The Score
Game Thread and Series Preview
Your game thread is down in the comments, so let’s have some good, clean (safe-for-work) fun today.
Starting Pitchers
Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (R):Â 3.86 ERA, 4.00 FIP; 3.45 K/BB
versus
Phillies: Zach Eflin (R):Â 3.99 ERA, 3.82 FIP; 4.05 K/BB
Philadelphia Phillies:
- Carlos Santana, 1B
- Rhys Hoskins, LF
- Odubel Herrera, CF
- Wilson Ramos, C
- Nick Williams, RF
- Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
- Maikel Franco, 3B
- Zach Eflin, P
- Cesar Hernandez, 2B
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Daniel Murphy, 2B
- Javy Baez, SS
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Ben Zobrist, RF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Victor Caratini, C
- Kyle Hendricks, P
- Ian Happ, CF
