Cubs vs Cardinals: Lineups, Pitching Matchup, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

Well, we all did it! After weeks of complaining in the comment section and on Twitter, Cubs President Jed Hoyer is handing out big league promotions like candy on Halloween. Chris Morel is the latest prospect to arrive in Chicago, but he’s NOT in the Chicago Cubs lineup for Game 1 against St. Louis tonight. Lol. Classic.

Chicago Cubs Lineup:

1. Nico Hoerner, 2B
2. Dansby Swanson, SS
3. Ian Happ, LF
4. Cody Bellinger, CF
5. Seiya Suzuki, RF
6. Trey Mancini, DH
7. Matt Mervis, 1B
8. Patrick Wisdom, 3B
9. Tucker Barnhart, C

Instead, the Cubs lineup this afternoon features Patrick Wisdom at third base, Trey Mancini at DH, and the usual three suspects across the outfield (which I share as likely the easiest potential paths to playing time for Morel). I suspect Morel will get his time to shine — Jed Hoyer said they didn’t want to call him up until he would start most games — but that time is not tonight. He’ll be available off the bench.

Also absent from tonight’s Cubs lineup? Miguel Amaya. Tucker Barnhart gets another go at it, despite catching the latter half of yesterday’s marathon game. Shrug. Would I like to see the maximum amount of Amaya? Yeah. But he’s already being tasked with a lot, coming up straight from Double-A as a catcher after barely catching any games these last few years. Going with the veteran behind the plate more often than not right now just isn’t giving me much heartache on a game-to-game basis. WITH THAT SAID, I believe Yan Gomes is eligible to return tomorrow, so this may have been his last shot (for now).

St. Louis Cardinals Lineup:

1. Lars Nootbaar, RF
2. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
3. Nolan Gorman, 2B
4. Nolan Arenado, 3B
5. Willson Contreras, DH
6. Brendan Donovan, LF
7. Dylan Carlson, CF
8. Tommy Edman, SS
9. Andrew Knizer, C

Pitching Matchup:

Chicago Cubs: Marcus Stroman, RHP

Marcus Stroman sure didn’t let that tough outing against the Dodgers get to him, eh? In two games since that blowup, he’s allowed just 3 earned runs total over 12.1 IP. The elevated strikeout numbers from the beginning of the season have started to slow down, but he still isn’t allowing any barrels, like … at all (just two all season and both in that Dodgers game!). And that’s no small feat, because after today he could rank as high as second in terms of innings pitched this season. That said, the Cardinals lineup is still a tough one, and they currently rank among the top-10 teams in wRC+ against right-handed pitching.

Notable Matchups:

• Arenado: 5-21, 2B, 4K
• Goldschmidt: 8-18, 2 2Bs, 3 HR, 3B, 3K
• Edman: 6-14, 4K
• Gorman: 4-12, 2 HR, 3K
• Knizer: 3-11, 3K
• Nootbaar: 3-10, 2B, 2K

St. Louis Cardinals: Miles Mikolas, RHP

Not unlike his pal Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas has been a thorn in the Cubs side for a good long while (2.16 ERA over 16 career starts vs CHC). Then again, he’s just been good in general, including last season, when he earned a 3.29 ERA over 32 starts and 202.1 IP.

How does he do it?

Historically, Mikolas doesn’t walk anybody, he gets plenty of ground balls, and he’s able to manage contact moderately well. But this season hasn’t quite gone according to plan just yet. Through seven 2023 starts, Mikolas has given up 24 earned runs, having already allowed 7 homers. And it seems like he deserves it, as his average exit velocity allowed, his average launch angle, and his barrel rate are all way up. All of that has led to a 5.79 ERA over 37.1 IP. Hopefully, the Cubs lineup can take full advantage. They certainly have plenty of history against him. Oh, and I guess we’ll see how he bounces back not throwing to Willson Contreras.

Notable Matchups:

• Happ: 7-29, 2 2Bs, BB, 8K
• Hoerner: 6-16
• Barnhart: 5-14, HR, 3K
• Hosmer: 5-11, 2B, HR, 2K
• Swanson: 3-11, HR, 3K
• Wisdom: 2-10, HR, BB, 6K
• Chris Morel: 2-8, 4K

Broadcast Info:

Chicago Cubs (17-17) vs St. Louis Cardinals (11-24) at 6:40 pm CT on Marquee Sports Network, MLBN, 670 The Score