The Cubs are hosting the Nationals once again tonight, and they’ll be facing their fourth lefty in their last five games (they’re 3-0 in those games so far).
With that said, Patrick Corbin has been on a bit of tear since starting the season off with two absolutely dreadful performances against the Dodgers (4.1 IP, 6ER, 3BB, 5Ks) and Diamondbacks (2.0 IP, 6H, 9ER, 4BB, 1K). And his last outing, in particular, was his best of the season (versus Phillies): 7.0 IP, 5H, 1ER, 0BB, 9Ks.
The Cubs (109 wRC+) have been a good bit better against left-handed pitching than the Phillies (99 wRC+), but still, something obviously clicked, and I don’t think we need to search very hard to see it:
Corbin’s fastball velocity has improved in every consecutive start this season, and with, that so has his overall production. He still doesn’t throw *hard* necessarily, but we’ve seen how important and extra click or two can be to a guy’s other pitches (think Kyle Hendricks and his sinker-changeup combo).
Go Cubs.
Game Info
Washington Nationals (16-21) at Chicago Cubs (20-20) – Tuesday, May 18th at 6:40 CT on Marquee Sports Network, 670 The Score
Starting Pitchers
Nationals: Patrick Corbin (L)
versus
Cubs: Zach Davies (R)
Chicago Cubs (Lineup Discussion):
1. Willson Contreras, C
2. Kris Bryant, RF
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Javier Báez, SS
5. Matt Duffy, LF
6. Ian Happ, CF
7. David Bote, 3B
8. Nico Hoerner, 2B
9. Zach Davies, P
Washington Nationals:
1. Trea Turner SS
2. Juan Soto RF
3. Ryan Zimmerman 1B
4. Kyle Schwarber LF
5. Starlin Castro 3B
6. Josh Harrison 2B
7. Yan Gomes C
8. Patrick Corbin P
9. Victor Robles CF