After two months of rehab and five relief appearances, Alec Mills is finally making his first start of the 2022 MLB season. He was, if you recall, expected to break camp in the Cubs starting rotation but was held off the Opening Day roster with a lower back strain (and then eventually dealt with a quad injury, as well).
So far, Mills has worked in long relief, making one appearance as long as 5.0 innings, which means he should be plenty stretched out this afternoon. Unfortunately, he’s been absolutely rocked so far, with 14 earned runs in 14.2 IP because of just tons of elevated hard contact (and 4 HRs). We’ll see what he can do with the benefit of preparation and a clean game, however. Maybe that’ll make the difference.
In the meantime, Jack Flaherty is making just his third start of the season, after being slowed by a right shoulder injury earlier this season. His first two outings since coming off the IL were short, but also limited by pitch counts. So I wouldn’t necessarily be happy to face him today. Though I did find this interesting.
Whoever wins today takes the series. Go Cubs.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (27-45) at St. Louis Cardinals (41-33) – Sunday, June 26 at 1:15 CT on MARQ, 670 The Score
Starting Pitchers
Cardinals: Jack Flaherty, RHP
Cubs: Alec Mills, RHP
Chicago Cubs (Lineup Discussion):
- Christopher Morel, CF
- Rafael Ortega, RF
- Willson Contreras, DH
- Ian Happ, LF
- Patrick Wisdom, 3B
- Nico Hoerner SS
- Yan Gomes, C
- Alfonso Rivas, 1B
- David Bote, 2B
St. Louis Cardinals:
- Tommy Edman, SS
- Brendan Donovan, LF
- Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
- Nolan Arenado, 3B
- Nolan Gorman, 2B
- Juan Yepez, DH
- Dylan Carlson, RF
- Harrison Bader, CF
- Iván Herrera, C