Well, last night was supposed to be easier half of this two-game series against the White Sox, with Ivan Nova on the mound. Because tonight, the Cubs will have to deal with Lucas Giolito, who’s figured things out quite a bit here lately. Here’s the Cubs lineup for Game 2.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Javy Baez, SS
- Willson Contreras, C
- Jason Heyward, RF
- David Bote, 2B
- Jon Lester, P
- Albert Almora Jr., CF
As you can see, Willson Contreras is back in the lineup tonight, in place of Victor Caratini, and so is David Bote, in place of Daniel Descalso. And with Carlos Gonzalez on the bench as well, Jason Heyward shifts over to right, making space for Albert Almora Jr. in center field.
Despite being a righty himself, Giolito has been quite a bit tougher on lefties (.211 wOBA) than righties (.251 wOBA) this season and he’s just about split neutral for his career (with the slight edge toward southpaws). In any case, he’ll get nearly an equal balance of lefties (Kyle Schwarber, Anthony Rizzo, Jason Heyward, Jon Lester) and righties (Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras, David Bote, Almora) tonight, so let’s hope that’s enough for the Cubs to come out on top.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (7:05 CT).