The Cubs long stretch of series wins (and one split) was spoiled by the Reds on Thursday, but they can begin a new streak with a win against the Nationals this evening. Here’s the Cubs lineup for the finale in D.C.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Javy Baez, SS
- Willson Contreras, C
- Daniel Descalso, 2B
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Albert Almora Jr., CF
- Kyle Hendricks, P
This is about as close to a normal, everyday lineup as it gets for the Cubs – indeed, that’s basically just the depth chart, with everyone in their usual spots. Obviously, Kyle Schwarber leading off is relatively new, but we’ve seen it a few times now, so no surprises there. And given that he’s got a .380 OBP over his last 100 plate appearances, I think we should all be pretty cool with it, too.
But again, yeah. Pretty normal set up all around, so … I guess take a look at Jeremy Hellickson’s splits, because they’re pretty big this season:
Lefties: .324/.387/.632 (.420 wOBA)
Righties: .259/.341/.395 (.322 wOBA)
The gap is narrower for his career, but obviously lefties are getting to him this season. Normally, because of that, I’d point out that this feels like yet another obvious day for Victor Caratini to start instead of Willson Contreras (might as well do it when he’s best set up to succeed at the plate) – especially with the scheduled travel back to Chicago – BUT with Yu Darvish slated to go tomorrow night, we might see him soon anyway.
We’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ closer to game time (6:05 CT).