The Cubs have already won the first two games of this series (despite maybe their best long-term interests), but they’re going for the series win today behind Kyle Hendricks, which gives them a pretty good shot. Here’s the Cubs lineup for Game 3 against the Pirates.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
1. Rafael Ortega, CF
2. Frank Schwindel, 1B
3. Ian Happ, LF
4. Willson Contreras, C
5. Patrick Wisdom, 3B
6. Matt Duffy, 2B
7. Jason Heyward, RF
8. Sergio Alcantara, SS
9. Kyle Hendricks, P
The top of the order finally gets a shakeup with the welcomed return of Willson Contreras, arguably the face of the Cubs franchise at the moment (unless you consider Frank Schwindel’s cheeky grin). He bats cleanup, separating Ian happ and Patrick Wisdom. With David Bote still out, Matt Duffy continues to hold down second base and it’s Sergio Alcantara at shortstop.
And of course it is anybody but Michael Hermosillo in right field, because even after his monster game yesterday (3-5, 2B, HR, 2R, 3 RBI) Jason Heyward continues to draw starts in the outfield for literally no reason at all. It’s incredibly infuriating when there are younger, higher upside players to test out – like Hermosillo – but David Ross (or Andy Green?) must have his reasons.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (1:20 CT).