Last weekend, the Brewers managed to take the first two games of their series against the Cubs, but failed to complete the sweep. Today, the Cubs have the chance to do the same. Let’s hope their luck is a little better.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:Â
- Jason Heyward, CF
- Nick Castellanos, RF
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Javy Baez, SS
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Victor Caratini, C
- Tony Kemp, 2B
- David Bote, 3B
- Yu Darvish, P
Here are Adrian Houser’s splits this season:
LHH v. Houser: .323/.409/.538 (.392 wOBA)
RHH v. Houser: .216/.267/.344 (.263 wOBA)
The fact that the Cubs are starting Tony Kemp (at least he’s a lefty) and David Bote (when Almora, Contreras, and Bryant aren’t in the lineup) over Ian Happ today is pretty revelatory.
This basically confirms that Happ is considered outfield only (at least, this year) and is behind every other player on the bench – regardless of splits. I still think there’s something else to this, but it’s too tough to say. This front office has been MORE than willing to deal with strikeouts for young, talented players given what else they bring to the roster in the past (and this season), so with Happ, that just can’t be everything. There’s gotta be something else. Alas. We’ll figure it out another time. I do wonder if he’d just be better off playing in Iowa.
For a lineup without Kris Bryant or Willson Contreras, this group actually looks pretty good. I like what Jason Heyward and Nicholas Castellanos have brought to the top of the lineup, and with five lefties in there overall, this should be a tough group for Houser. I wish Bryant wasn’t getting rest on a Sunday home game against the Brewers in August, but he has been struggling a bit lately, so maybe it just needed to happen.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (1:20 CT)