The Cubs lost their first one against the Reds yesterday – sigh – continuing their .500-ish stretch of baseball. They’ll try again today, but they’ll have an even tougher pitching matchup against the righty Luis Castillo.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Javy Baez, SS
- Willson Contreras, C
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Addison Russell, 2B
- Albert Almora Jr., CF
- Jose Quintana, P
Castillo has predictable splits against lefties and righties this season. Neither side is hitting him with much authority, but lefties (.206/.332/.335) are doing a far better job than righties (.156/.262/.242). Unfortunately, the Cubs are not quite in a position to pounce on that with Ben Zobrist (on the restricted list) and things not quite working out with Carlos Gonzalez (on waivers) or Daniel Descalso (on ice). And for some reason David Bote is not in there either.
Instead, we’re stuck with Addison Russell (1-6, 2B, 2BBs, 3Ks against Castillo lifetime) and Albert Almora Jr. (4-13, 1BB, 1K), who have admittedly had some success against Castillo in the past – and each contributed a bit yesterday, too. Ultimately, there’s not much Joe Maddon can do with the back end of this roster and there’s nothing wrong with a little extra defense.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ closer to game time (3:10 CT).