The Brewers-Cubs opener was rained out of Wrigley Field last night, pushing us into a seven-inning double-header situation today. The Brewers are sticking with Freddy Peralta for Game 1, but the Cubs are going with Justin Steele for the first game and Alec Mill (last night’s scheduled starter) in game 2.
With a Cubs lefty on the mound instead of a Cubs righty, the Brewers have tweaked their lineup pretty significantly. Lefties Christian Yelich, Omar Narvaez, and Rowdy Tellez are all out, because they’re obviously cowards and don’t want to be mowed down by the Cubs shiny new rotation toy. Also the lefty/righty splits. Probably an equal balance between those two.
Indeed, the big story of the day is Justin Steele’s rotational debut. We’ll all be watching closely, and trying our best not to overreact in either direction, but you know it’ll be tough to show restraint if he dominates. The reality, of course, is that no matter what happens today, Steele has plenty of time to develop and cement his position within the rotation. The Cubs brought him along slowly, allowing him to first debut as a reliever before stretching him back out at Iowa. And if they get this one right, it could go a LONG way to rebuilding this team sooner than later.
Game Info
Milwaukee Brewers (66-46) at Chicago Cubs (52-61) – Tuesday, August 10th at 1:20 CT on MARQ, 670 The Score
Starting Pitchers
Brewers: Freddy Peralta (R)
versus
Cubs: Justin Steele (L)
Chicago Cubs (Lineup Discussion):
1. Rafael Ortega, CF
2. Willson Contreras, C
3. Ian Happ, LF
4. Patrick Wisdom, 3B
5. Greg Deichmann, RF
6. Frank Schwindel, 1B
7. Andrew Romine, SS
8. Sergio Alcantara, 2B
9. Justin Steele, P
Milwaukee Brewers:
1. Kolten Wong, 2B
2. Willy Adames, SS
3. Eduardo Escobar, 1B
4. Avisail Garcia, RF
5. Tyrone Taylor, LF
6. Lorenzo Cain, CF
7. Luis Urias, 3B
8. Manny Pina, C
9. Freddy Peralta, P