NEWSLETTER
The Cubs top pitching prospect, Caleb Kilian, is on the mound tonight for his third big league start. As you’ll likely recall, his first start of the year was an impressive outing against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field (5.0 IP, 3ER, 2BB, 6Ks), wherein he dominated early, hit a bit of a wall, and eventually worked through those struggles.
His second start, however, was a disaster almost from the get-go. Kilian ultimately allowed 5 earned runs on 5 hits, 5 walks, a hit batter, and a wild pitch. In other words, he didn’t have ANY control. It was unusually hot that day – and Kilian has been known as something of a command artist in the past (though that was before some of his developmental changes) – so I’m willing to bet we don’t see a repeat of that performance tonight.
Tonight, Kilian (and the Cubs) will be going up against J.T. Brubaker, a righty pitcher with a left-handers name. Brubaker has had an uneven, mostly unproductive season, illustrated well by his most recent three starts:
vs. ARI: 4.0 IP, 8H, 5ER, 1BB, 3Ks (3 HRs)
@ATL: 7.0 IP, 6H, 3ER, 2BB, 7Ks
@STL: 5.1 IP, 7H, 2ER, 2BB, 5Ks (1 HR)
Overall, he’s got a 4.50 ERA. He is beatable.
As we’ve discussed a couple times today, the Pirates are debuting their top-10 overall prospect tonight, the giant shortstop Oneil Cruz.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (25-41) at Pittsburgh Pirates (26-39) – Monday, June 20 at 6:05 CT on MARQ, 670 The Score
Starting Pitchers
Pirates: JT Brubaker, RHP
Cubs: Caleb Kilian, RHP
Chicago Cubs (Lineup Discussion):
- Christopher Morel, CF
- Willson Contreras, C
- Rafael Ortega, DH
- Ian Happ, LF
- Patrick Wisdom, 3B
- Jonathan Villar, 2B
- Nico Hoerner, SS
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Alfonso Rivas, 1B
Pittsburgh Pirates:
- Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B
- Bryan Reynolds, CF
- Jack Suwinski, LF
- Daniel Vogelbach, DH
- Michael Chavis, 1B
- Oneil Cruz, SS
- Bligh Madris, RF
- Tyler Heineman, C
- Hoy Park, 2B
