New Cardinals lefty Jordan Montgomery will be squaring up against Cubs lefty Drew Smyly tonight for the first of five games at Wrigley Field. Here’s David Ross’ lineup for the opener in Chicago.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Nick Madrigal, 2B
- Willson Contreras, C
- Ian Happ, LF
- Seiya Suzuki, RF
- Franmil Reyes, DH
- Nico Hoerner, SS
- Nelson Velázquez, CF
- P.J. Higgins, 1B
- Chris Morel, 3B
SP: Drew Smyly, LHP
Against a lefty – and with Patrick Wisdom out with an injury – I’m not surprised to see (1) Nick Madrigal leading off, (2) Nelson Velázquez in center field, (3) P.J. Higgins at first, or (4) Chris Morel at third. All of that tracks. But I am a little surprised to see Nico Hoerner batting sixth with Ian Happ, the switch-hitter, all the way up at third.
Intuitively that seems backwards. And as I recall, Ross has historically pushed Hoerner up and Happ down against southpaws.
I guess it is true, however, that Happ (144 wRC+) has crushed left-handed pitching this season. Hoerner has been better against lefties, himself (118 wRC+). But that’s not particularly close to Happ. Just feels weird.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (7:05 CT).