There’s nothing quite like a Wednesday, 12:05 rubber match between the worst team in baseball and the 7th worst team in baseball in the middle of August — am I right, baseball fans?
Drew Smyly is taking the mound for the Cubs this afternoon, following one of his better starts of the year against the Reds his last time out: 5.0 IP, 4H, 0ER, 2BB, 9Ks. Outside of a blow up in San Francisco (5 ER in 4.0 IP), he’s actually been on a bit of a roll here lately, with a 2.42 ERA over his last five starts (INCLUDING that game against the Giants). He’s been striking out a batter an inning over that stretch and has walked just 5.4% along the way. Just a steady, back-end starter. The Cubs front office got this one right, at least.
Starting opposite Smyly is former Cubs righty Cory Abbott, who’s still only 26 years old. Abbott has made three starts for the Nats this season during which he’s struggled to find the strike zone (10 walks in 12.2 IP for a 15.9% walk rate) while rarely striking batters out. He also made three relief appearances for Washington, but that was earlier in the season. For his career, Abbott has been smoked by left-handed batters, so the Cubs have McKinstry leading off with Ian Happ and Rafael Ortega in the lineup, as well.
Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion to the must-watch series of the year.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (48-67) at Washington Nationals (39-79) – Wednesday, August 17 at 12:05 CT on MARQ, MLBN, 670 The Score
Starting Pitchers
Nationals: Cory Abbott, RHP
Cubs: Drew Smyly, LHP
Chicago Cubs (Lineup Discussion):
- Zach McKinstry, 2B
- Nico Hoerner, SS
- Seiya Suzuki, RF
- Ian Happ, LF
- Franmil Reyes, DH
- Rafael Ortega, CF
- Patrick Wisdom, 3B
- Yan Gomes, C
- P.J. Higgins, 1B
Washington Nationals:
- Lane Thomas, CF
- Joey Meneses, RF
- Luke Voit, 1B
- Nelson Cruz, DH
- Kiebert Ruiz, C
- Cesar Hernandez, 2B
- CJ Abrams, SS
- Alex Call, LF
- Ildemaro Vargas, 3B