The Cubs won game 1 of this series convincingly and have a shot at a series win tonight. Here’s the lineup Joe Maddon has chosen against the righty Pablo Lopez.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:Â
- Daniel Descalso, 2B
- Kris Bryant, LF
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Javy Baez, SS
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Willson Contreras, C
- David Bote, 3B
- Albert Almora Jr., CF
- Jose Quintana, P
Despite facing a righty for the second-straight game and having a rest day on Sunday (which was a rainout) to boot, Kyle Schwarber is once again absent from the lineup. HOWEVA, I’ll point out that both yesterday’s righty, Trevor Richards, and tonight’s righty, Pablo Lopez, both carry rather significant reverse splits.
That’s both a good opportunity to get Albert Almora Jr. an opportunity (you’d want him in there with this massive outfield, anyway) and a good time to give Schwarber a breather – especially given how much he’s struggled lately.
And when you consider how well Jason Heyward has been hitting, and how he can fill that middle-of-the-order left-handed bat (at least, right now), the decision becomes all the more obvious.
With that said, the lefty Daniel Descalso is back in there playing second base and leading off as he has against most right-handed pitchers this season, and Kris Bryant is still out in left field with David Bote at third.
We’ll have a Pre-Gamin’ post with more a little closer to game time.