The Chicago Cubs are beginning a wild stretch of Chicago-based baseball this evening, with 11 games in their next 9 days starting with two against the White Sox. Here’s the lineup for Game 1 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
1. Christopher Morel, CF
2. Willson Contreras, C
3. Ian Happ, LF
4. Patrick Wisdom, 3B
5. Frank Schwindel, DH
6. Alfonso Rivas, 1B
7. Nico Hoerner, SS
8. Rafael Ortega, RF
9. Andrelton Simmons, 2B
SP: Keegan Thompson, RHP
Johnny Cueto is starting for the Sox today, and while he’s been pretty close to split neutral for his career, that’s not so much the case over the last 3-4 years. Specifically, from 2019 through his most recent start, lefties have a .350 wOBA against Cueto while righties are up to only .307 wOBA. However, the Cubs are starting just three lefties today (Happ, Rivas, and Ortega).
But that’s at least partly because the focus is clearly on the defense.
Today, we’re seeing our first dose of Nico Hoerner at shortstop with Andrelton Simmons at second base. David Ross said we’d see that when Hoerner first came back from the IL, but it’s nice to finally see it in action.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (6:15 CT).