Keep that Foot on the Gas: Marlins at Cubs, May 6 – 9, 2019

The Chicago Cubs have been on a roll lately, winning in convincing fashion with significant yet sustainable contributions from the bullpen, rotation, and lineup. And after their three-game sweep of the Cardinals, they get to stay at Wrigley Field for four games against the worst team in baseball.

But now is NOT the time to let off the gas. The veteran fans among us will know that this is exactly the type of series that can catch a hot team off guard. The Cubs should effort to take at least three of these games this week, and all four should be on the table come Thursday.

It all starts tonight at 7:05 CT with Cole Hamels. Go Cubs.

We’re Going Streaking

The Chicago Cubs (19-12) have won seven straight games and have not lost a series in almost exactly one month. They just completed a sweep of the Cardinals and now have the best run differential in all of baseball.

The Miami Marlins (9-24) have lost three games in a row and eight of their past ten. They’re in last place of the NL East and the only team in baseball with single-digit wins. Yikes.

Game Times and Broadcasts Info

Monday, May 6th at 7:05 CT on NBCSC, 670 The Score

Tuesday, May 7th at 7:05 CT on NBCS, 670 The Score

Wednesday, May 8th at 7:05 CT on WGN, 670 The Score

Thursday, May 9th at 1:20 CT on NBCS, 670 The Score

Chicago Cubs

Probable Pitchers:

Cole Hamels: 3.19 ERA, 3.61 FIP; 3.08 K/BB

Jon Lester: 1.73 ERA, 3.38 FIP; 3.86 K/BB

Kyle Hendricks: 3.93 ERA, 3.41 FIP; 3.38 K/BB

Yu Darvish: 5.79 ERA, 6.82 FIP; 1.37 K/BB

Active Depth Chart:

C – Willson Contreras

1B – Anthony Rizzo

2B – Daniel Descalso

3B – Kris Bryant

SS – Javy Baez

LF – Kyle Schwarber

CF – Albert Almora

RF – Jason Heyward

Also working in regularly: Ben Zobrist and David Bote

Unavailable: Brandon Morrow, Xavier Cedeño, Tony Barnette, Mike Montgomery (?), Victor Caratini

Miami Marlins

Probable Pitchers:

Sandy Alcantara: 4.86 ERA, 4.35 FIP; 1.47 K/BB

Caleb Smith: 2.00 ERA, 2.84 FIP; 5.00 K/BB

Jose Urena: 5.45 ERA, 4.96 FIP; 2.42 K/BB

Trevor Richards: 4.10 ERA, 4.99 FIP; 1.62 K/BB

Active Depth Chart:

C – Jorge Alfaro

1B – Neil Walker

2B – Starlin Castro

3B – Brian Anderson

SS – Miguel Rojas

LF – Curtis Granderson

CF – Isaac Galloway

RF – Isaac Galloway(? can they do that? do they care?)

Unavailable: Garrett Cooper

Keep An Eye Out For …

Cubs Pitcher: There are a lot of good pitching story lines set up in this series, but I’m most excited and anxious to see how Kyle Hendricks follows up his 81-pitch complete game shutout. At a minimum, he should be well-rested, right?

Cubs Player: Kris Bryant is not just heating up, he’s already hot:

Did you notice?

Over his last 63 plate appearances, Kris Bryant is slashing .277/.444/.596 (173 wRC+) with a walk-rate (20.6%) nearly double his strikeout rate (11.1%) and a hard-hit rate approaching 50%! #Cubs

— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) May 6, 2019

We’ll have much more on him later today.

Marlins Pitcher: Pablo Lopez has been the hottest of the Marlins starters over the past two weeks, with a 2.00 ERA over his past three starts … and the Cubs are missing him in a four-game series! That’s a lucky draw.

Marlins Player: Jorge Alfaro, the Marlins catcher, has been their hottest hitter over the past two weeks, with a solid .294/.368/.471 slash line. But other than him, no one else has been even above average offensively. And for the season, none of the Marlins qualified hitters have a wRC+ over 100. Alfaro and Neil Walker have been – essentially – the entire offense.