Maybe the Cubs shouldn’t have lost on Monday night, but they’ve since battled back twice and have set-up a chance at taking 3 of 4 from the Marlins later this afternoon.
Here’s the lineup for the finale:
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Javy Baez, SS
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Albert Almora Jr., CF
- David Bote, 2B
- Taylor Davis, C
- Yu Darvish, P
This is not the Cubs strongest offensive group, but with Daniel Descalso still not 100%, Ben Zobrist absent from the team at the moment, and Willson Contreras on the bench (because catching the early day game after a night game isn’t a very wise decision), this is what we’re left with.
Further complicating matters is that the Marlins righty, Trevor Richards, has reverse splits both this season and for his career:
Versus Lefties: .219/.319/.348
Versus Righties: /.263/.340/.469
At least it’s a good day to get Albert Almora Jr. a start, right?
But circling back to Willson Contreras’ day off, this is now the third start for Taylor Davis this season and all three have come with Yu Darvish on the mound. I’m quite certain that Victor Caratini will be back soon and replacing Davis behind Willson Contreras behind the plate, but the relationship between Darvish and Davis is an interesting one, at least.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (1:20 CT).