Hey, Jose Quintana is back! That’s fun. Here’s the Cubs lineup for the second of four games against the Pirates.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:Â
1. Ian Happ, CF
2. Willson Contreras, C
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Javy Baez, SS
5. Kyle Schwarber, LF
6. David Bote, 3B
7. Cameron Maybin, RF
8. Jose Martinez, DH
9. Nico Hoerner, 2B
Take a guess at the handedness of tonight’s Pirates pitcher …. Yeah, it’s a lefty, Steven Brault. Here are his splits for his career:
v. RHH: .270/.364/.437 (.345 wOBA)
v. LHH: .238/.340/.336 (.304 wOBA)
And as such, Cameron Maybin (not Jason Heyward) and Nico Hoerner (not Jason Kipnis) are both in the lineup tonight. The biggest news, however, is the return of Jose Martinez, the Cubs deadline acquisition who was supposed to help them against lefties, but didn’t actually record a hit in the 18 plate appearances he got before being sent to South Bend.
The Cubs could really use Martinez’s bat down the stretch and in the postseason, so I hope he figured out whatever he needed to during his hiatus. As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (6:05 CT).