Leave the past in the past, tonight’s a new opportunity. Here’s how David Ross will line up his Cubs with Kyle Hendricks on the mound.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
1. Ian Happ, CF
2. Anthony Rizzo, 2B
3. Javy Baez, SS
4. Kyle Schwarber, LF
5. Willson Contreras, C
6. Jason Heyward, RF
7. Victor Caratini, DH
8. Jason Kipnis, 2B
9. David Bote, 3B
There are basically no surprises in this lineup – minus the fact that Kris Bryant is STILL out with a wrist injury – as Ross leans on his regulars for game 2 against Reynaldo Lopez and the Sox.
Kris Bryant is out of the lineup again today. Hasn’t played since Monday, is also not on the IL.
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) August 22, 2020
And when there’s not many lineup decisions to discuss, I usually like to look at the opposing pitcher’s splits … unfortunately, there’s nothing really there either:
LHH: 232.2 IP, .333 wOBA
RHH: 232.1 IP, .327 wOBA
Lopez, 26, has an almost identical number of innings pitched against both lefties and righties and an almost identical level of production allowed both ways. And I guess that works out for the Cubs, who have four lefties, three righties, and two switch-hitters in the lineup tonight.
I will point out, however, that Lopez has been activated from the Injured List and hasn’t pitched since being removed from the first inning of his first start of the year. And with that in mind, the Cubs might get an extended look at left-hander Gio Gonzalez in relief early on.
Gonzalez, you might recall, frustrated the hell out of the Cubs last season with the Brewers (1.48 ERA over 24.1 IP), and given the Cubs issues against lefties this year, I’m not itching to see him.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (7:15 CT).