NEWSLETTER
That win last night was just what the doctor ordered. It was great to have Nico Hoerner back in the Cubs lineup and to enjoy a stress-free win. Now let’s see if the Cubbies can get something going here and win their first series in, like … what, a year?
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Nico Hoerner, 2B
- Dansby Swanson, SS
- Ian Happ, LF
- Seiya Suzuki, RF
- Trey Mancini, DH
- Patrick Wisdom, 3B
- Matt Mervis, 1B
- Yan Gomes, C
- Chris Morel, CF
Another day, another good Cubs lineup from David Ross … with one exception: Just flip Mancini and Morel, man. You’re *this* close to making us happy. But I’m just being a grump (and David Ross is just always going to defer to a veteran … it’s kind of his thing). The Cubs handed the Phillies a 10-1 pounding last night and this lineup hits all the right notes.
I just can’t wait for Cody Bellinger to come back. I’m sure that’ll push Morel to the bench more often than we’d like to see, but there will be at least one game where the lineup looks exactly like the one above, except Morel will be the DH and Bellinger will be the center fielder, batting fifth. That’ll be the day.
Go Cubs.
Philadelphia Phillies Lineup:
- Bryson Stott, 2B
- Nick Castellanos, RF
- Bryce Harper, DH
- J.T. Realmuto, C
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Alec Bohm, 3B
- Brandon Marsh, CF
- Kody Clemens, 1B
- Edmundo Sosa, SS
Pitching Matchup:
Chicago Cubs: Jameson Taillon, RHP
At a certain point we’re going to need Jameson Taillon to just have a good-results outing, because even I’m sick of saying this. But it’s also the truth: In the three (bad-results) starts Taillon has made since returning from his groin injury, I thought he’s looked mostly fine. There was definitely a few belt-high mistakes that’ve cost him (and that’s on him), but he’s definitely gotten results that don’t match the quality of his overall performance.
Philadelphia Phillies: Aaron Nola, RHP
Aaron Nola, 29, has finished among the top-7 in NL Cy Young voting three times in his career, including a top-5 finish last season. So even though the results haven’t been great so far this year (4.53 ERA), I wouldn’t count on this as an easy matchup by any stretch of the imagination. As a matter of fact, cut out Nola’s first start of the year and the numbers improve dramatically (3.98 ERA). So, yeah, the Cubs lineup has their work cut out for them. THAT SAID the velocity does seem to be down a little over one click so far, so maybe that’s been the difference maker? Nola has also gone from basically never throwing a cutter to throwing one 11.8% of the time, so there are some changes going on here. Not sure why. Maybe he was looking for a little more movement if his velocity wasn’t quite where he wanted it to be? I don’t know. It’s early. In any case, the strikeout rate is way down, the average exit velocity is up a tad, the launch angle is up, and the barrel rate is up. I still wouldn’t be excited to face him, but maybe he’s not QUITE as locked in as we’re used to seeing.
Broadcast Info:
Chicago Cubs (20-24) vs Philadelphia Phillies (20-24) at 3:05 pm CT on MARQ, 670 The Score
