The Cubs took game one against the Rockies last night, but have a tougher pitching matchup against German Marquez tonight. Here’s how they’ll line up against the tough righty tonight.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Javy Baez, SS
- Carlos Gonzalez, RF
- Willson Contreras, C
- Jason Heyward, CF
- David Bote, 2B
- Yu Darvish, P
Well, would you look at that: Willson Contreras is catching Yu Darvish.
After all of my handwringing yesterday, Victor Caratini is not getting back-to-back starts (though, I would expect to see him tomorrow), and it’s Contreras behind the plate for Darvish instead. Given the splits of the two remaining starters (Marquez favors righties this season, Gray favors lefties) this works out – offensively – much better.
The question, of course, is if Willson Contreras can receive Darvish’s vast arsenal of high-velocity, high-movement pitches as well as Caratini can *and* if Darvish will be as comfortable/successful with him behind the plate. Remember, Darvish’s best start this season (arguably one of his best starts as a Cub) came with Caratini behind the plate. And some of his other good starts this year were with Taylor Davis filling out the battery. We’ll see. I have high hopes, though, and would obviously love it if Darvish didn’t need a personal catcher.
Other than that, Carlos Gonzalez is grabbing another start in the outfield (how long until Albert Almora fans start rioting?) and David Bote is at second base. As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (7:05 CT).