The Cubs and Mets open up a three-game set tonight at Citi Field. Javier Assad is taking the ball for Chicago following his longest start of the season: 5.1 IP, 5H, 4ER, 1BB, 6Ks. The four earned runs sting, but at least Assad struck out six Reds against just one walk, and managed the contact fairly well (85.5 MPH average EV). I’m not sure he has a ceiling beyond fill-in/swing starter anyway.
Chris Bassitt, by contrast, is having another very nice season: 3.24 ERA (3.17 xERA) over 26 starts and 161.1 IP. This year, he’s among the game’s best contact managers with an 85.3 MPH average exit velocity allowed (2nd in MLB) and a 31.4 hard% (5th in MLB). He’s been on a particularly dominant stretch since August 3, giving up just 9 earned runs over 7 starts (1.75 ERA) with a 52.9% groundball rate.
The Cubs have their work cut out for them tonight, and that’s with Jacob deGrom looming on Tuesday.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (58-82) at New York Mets (89-52) – Monday, September 12 at 6:10 CT on Marquee, 670 The Score
Starting Pitchers
Mets: Chris Bassitt, RHP
Cubs: Javier Assad, RHP
Chicago Cubs (Lineup Discussion):
- Zach McKinstry, 2B
- Seiya Suzuki, RF
- Franmil Reyes, DH
- Ian Happ, LF
- Patrick Wisdom, 3B
- Rafael Ortega, CF
- P.J. Higgins, C
- Alfonso Rivas, 1B
- Chris Morel, SS
New York Mets:
- Brandon Nimmo, CF
- Francisco Lindor, SS
- Jeff McNeil, 2B
- Pete Alonso, 1B
- Daniel Vogelbach, DH
- Mark Canha, LF
- Eduardo Escobar, 3B
- Tyler Naquin, RF
- James McCann, C