There’s rain in the forecast tonight in Cincinnati, but we still have a starting lineup to peruse ahead of Game 3 between the Cubs and Reds. Take a look.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
1. Christopher Morel, 2B
2. Rafael Ortega, CF
3. Seiya Suzuki, RF
4. Ian Happ, LF
5. Frank Schwindel, DH
6. Patrick Wisdom, 3B
7. Alfonso Rivas, 1B
8. P.J. Higgins, C
9. Andrelton Simmons, SS
SP: Kyle Hendricks, RHP
Christopher Morel moved up to the leadoff spot yesterday, but only after the batting order was shaken up by the late scratch of Yan Gomes. But after reaching base twice last night, Morel is right back up top again tonight. That bumps Rafael Ortega down to the two hole, which helps the lefty/righty balance up top and allows David Ross to keep his 3-4-5-6 spots static.
P.J. Higgins is behind the plate again this evening, which makes me wonder what the Cubs plans are for the very early game tomorrow (11:35 am CT). Yan Gomes just hit the IL and Willson Contreras is not officially back yet (though he is available off the bench). I suppose we’ll find out in about 20 hours. In the meantime, Simmons is at short and Rivas is playing first base.
Lefties (.324 wOBA) have hit tonight’s Reds starter, Luis Castillo, far better than righties (.274 wOBA) throughout his career, and the gap is especially enormous this season (.452 wOBA vs. .159 wOBA … though it’s an extremely small sample). So keep that in mind.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (5:40 CT).