The Cubs made peace with the trajectory of their season when they sold half the team at the trade deadline, but today, the true tanking begins. The Kansas City Royals are coming to town a 0.5 game up on the Cubs in the reverse standings. So losing this series would be wise for Chicago. Obviously, that’s why Michael Hermosillo isn’t getting another start, right?
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
1. Rafael Ortega, CF
2. Frank Schwindel, 1B
3. Ian Happ, LF
4. Patrick Wisdom, 3B
5. Matt Duffy, SS
6. Jason Heyward, RF
7. David Bote, 2B
8. Austin Romine, C
9. Zack Davies, P
In all seriousness, there is still plenty of time for Hermosillo to get his starts, but I don’t really understand why you wouldn’t get him in there today. Even if you believe the matchup against right-hander Brad Keller isn’t ideal for some reason, who cares about the results? Let’s just get him everyday at-bats while the games don’t matter to see what he can be (or at least what he needs to work on).
And I can’t help but feel like Jason Heyward is the player standing in the way of that, which just kind of makes me more frustrated. Anyway …
Matt Duffy is starting at shortstop today, which might be the only way to get him in there while also starting Patrick Wisdom (3B) and David Bote (2B) while Frank Schwindel is holding down first base. Duffy has played just 5.1 innings at shortstop since 2016 and just 224.2 innings at short in his big league career.
Austin Romine and Zach Davies are your battery today and, as usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (1:20 CT).