This evening, the Chicago Cubs will do battle against the Pirates out in Pittsburgh. Here’s the lineup for the first of three games at PNC.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:Â
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Nicholas Castellanos, RF
- Ben Zobrist, 2B
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Willson Contreras, C
- Ian Happ, 3B
- Jason Heyward, CF
- Nico Hoerner, SS
- Kyle Hendricks, P
If the Cubs really are trying to go down fighting, they’ll absolutely have to win each of their next six games. And from the looks of this lineup, Joe Maddon is trying to do exactly that.
The Cubs may be without Javy Baez (who had hoped to return before the end of the season) and Kris Bryant (who’s likely done for the season), but they still have the greatest leadoff hitter of all time in Anthony Rizzo and at least six more games of Nicholas Castellanos and Ben Zobrist to work with.
And with a red-hot Kyle Schwarber still batting fourth, plus Willson Contreras behind the plate, you feel good about tonight.
Beyond that, Nico Hoerner will continue to backfill for Baez while Ian Happ covers third for Bryant. As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (6:05 CT) – and you can catch another episode of Outside the Ivy tonight after the post-game.