Chicago Cubs baseball is back on the air tonight at 7:10 CT. This one’s in Milwaukee, where the Cubs will face the Brewers at American Family Field.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
1. Rafael Ortega, DH
2. Jonathan Villar, 2B
3. Willson Contreras, C
4. Ian Happ, LF
5. Seiya Suzuki, RF
6. Alfonso Rivas, 1B
7. Patrick Wisdom, 3B
8. Jason Heyward, CF
9. Nico Hoerner, SS
P: Kyle Hendricks (R)
Brewers starter Adrian Houser has been a lot tougher on righties (.269 wOBA) than lefties (.356 wOBA) for his career, and David Ross has apparently taken that into consideration. Not only are five lefty bats in the lineup – including Alfonso Rivas … again! – Seyia Suzuki has moved down in the order. Not sure if that’s going to be permanent (and I doubt it matters as much as I’m about to make it seem), but Suzuki was hitting better before the move up to the two-hole.
Jonathan Villar is filling his spot in the batting order tonight.
Villar is also playing second base again, with Nick Madrigal on the bench for the second straight game. Does that carry any special meaning for Madrigal? Is he hurt? Is it just because it’s a tough-on-righties righty? We’ll have to keep an eye on that.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (7:10 CT).