UPDATE: Pitching change. Kyle Hendricks was scratched tonight after reportedly not feeling well. The hope is its nothing more than an abundance of caution, given the two coaches with positive tests and four other players on the COVID IL. Alec Mills will start in his place and the Cubs chances of winning this game just dropped significantly … which probably means they’ll win in a blowout, because nothing about this season has made all that much sense so far.
If you thought yesterday was rough, I’m sorry to tell you it’s not likely getting any easier tonight. The Brewers top starter, Brandon Woodruff, is taking the mound against the Cubs (with his 97 MPH fastball, 31.0% strikeout rate, and 4.8% walk rate). He also just manhandled the Cubs his last time out, to the tune of 7.0 scoreless, one-hit innings with no walks and 8 Ks. So, yeah. Usually, when a team sees the same pitcher in short order you give the benefit to the batters, but I just don’t know if I can necessarily go that far, with this squad, even if they have been historically unlucky:
I'm not making any excuses for the #Cubs, HOWEVER, their current .194 BABIP is literally the *single worst* mark in MLB for any team … in ANY YEAR since 2002 (when FanGraphs data begins).
By contrast, their 32.2 hard% ranks 131st (out of 600). So. Come on. Maybe some bad luck.
— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) April 13, 2021
They’ll just have to prove us wrong at this point.
On the bright side, Kyle Hendricks is making his third start tonight, and he also handled the Brewers well his last time out, going 6.o scoreless innings with just 4 hits and 1 walk against 6 strikeouts. If you recall, he had a rough first outing against the Pirates, so it was good to see him get back on track against Milwaukee (and not just because I have an open bet on him winning the 2021 NL Cy Young … because I’m a lunatic (and the odds were really enticing at the time)). The Cubs could really use a convincing win, with lots of runs on non-homers, so … please? Can we have it? Do we really deserve all this?
Go Cubs.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (4-6) at Milwaukee Brewers (6-4) – Tuesday, April 13th at 6:40 CT on Marquee Sports Network, 670 The Score
Starting Pitchers
Brewers: Brandon Woodruff (R)
versus
Cubs: Kyle Hendricks Alec Mills (R)
Chicago Cubs (Lineup Discussion):
1. Ian Happ, 2B
2. Willson Contreras, C
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Kris Bryant, 3B
5. Joc Pederson, LF
6. Javy Baez, SS
7. Jason Heyward, RF
8. Eric Sogard, 2B
9. Kyle Hendricks, P Alec Mills
Milwaukee Brewers:
1. Lorenzo Cain, CF
2. Keston Hiura, 1B
3. Travis Shaw, 3B
4. Avisail Garcia, RF
5. Jackie Bradley Jr., LF
6. Manny Pina, C
7. Luis Urias, SS
8. Daniel Robertson, 2B
9. Brandon Woodruff, P