I guess all the positive vibes of taking two of three from the Mets and Rays and splitting with the Padres has vanished. The Cubs are riding a three-game losing streak and are watching the season slip away in real time. There is next to no time left to turn this ship around. But Drew Smyly and the following Cubs lineup will try to get things moving in the right direction tonight.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Nico Hoerner, 2B
- Dansby Swanson, SS
- Ian Happ, LF
- Seiya Suzuki, RF
- Yan Gomes, C
- Miguel Amaya, DH
- Trey Mancini, 1B
- Patrick Wisdom, 3B
- Mike Tauchman, CF
Both for this season and for his career, Angels southpaw Reid Detmers has carried reverse splits. That means lefties have hit him better than righties. Nonetheless, Matt Mervis is out of the starting lineup in favor of Trey Mancini.
I think I’d prefer Mervis tonight (seeing as he has been hitting the ball pretty dang hard lately … and the Cubs still need him to continue developing), but I understand that the batters have their splits too. And this season, Mancini (105 wRC+) far outpaces Mervis (13 wRC+) against lefties.
Ross is no doubt playing to win tonight, not for development, so Mancini it is.
Once again, however, we’re seeing Yan Gomes behind the plate with Miguel Amaya at DH. And at this rate, the starts for Tucker Barnhart are REALLY drying up. It’s the right decision.
Patrick Wisdom is at third, Mike Tauchman is in center. Go Cubs.
Los Angeles Angels Lineup:
- Taylor Ward, LF
- Shohei Ohtani, DH
- Mike Trout, CF
- Brandon Drury, 1B
- Gio Urshela, 3B
- Jo Adell, RF
- Luis Rengifo, 2B
- Chad Wallach, C
- Zach Neto, SS
Pitching Matchup:
Chicago Cubs: Drew Smyly, LHP
Drew Smyly’s last couple starts haven’t lived up to the extremely impressive nine-game stretch that game just before them (2.13 ERA over 50.2 IP), but he’s generally been pretty good this season. Unfortunately, the Angels have absolutely destroyed left-handed pitching as a team this year (.282/.349/.447; 120 wRC+), so I don’t love his chances to bounce back tonight. Chances are we’ll need the Cubs lineup to come through with some serious run support if we want to avoid a sweep.
Los Angeles Angels: Reid Detmers, LHP
Reid Detmers is having a horrible season. Through ten starts, he’s carrying a 5.15 ERA with opposing batters hitting .281 and walking 9.3% of the time. His 26.4% strikeout rate is solid, but the 91.1 MPH average exit velocity and 16.6 average launch angle tells you everything you need to know. The Cubs lineup should have no trouble hitting him. But what they should do and what they are doing is not often aligned this year. It’s been a disaster.
Broadcast Info:
Chicago Cubs (26-35) vs Los Angeles Angels (33-30) at 8:38 pm CT on MARQ, MLBN, 670 The Score