NEWSLETTER
There’s not a lot of positivity going around in the Cubs world right now, but I’ve got at least one silver lining for you: Tonight is the last late night game of the entire season! It’s a REALLY late one (9:15 CT), but at least it’s a Friday? Here’s a look at the Chicago Cubs lineup for the first of three games against the Giants.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Nick Madrigal, 2B
- Mike Tauchman, CF
- Seiya Suzuki, RF
- Ian Happ, DH
- Dansby Swanson, SS
- Matt Mervis, 1B
- Patrick Wisdom, 3B
- Chris Morel, LF
- Tucker Barnhart, C
David Ross sure is switching things up tonight, though with Nico Hoerner on the bench (for the recently recalled Nick Madrigal), I don’t know if any of this is a “new norm.” Or even a short-term shake-it-up lineup.
Nonetheless, Hoerner gets some rest, Madrigal leads off, and Ian Happ stays in the lineup, albeit moving down to cleanup (despite his waning power). With Happ at DH, Chris Morel is covering left field, even in the face of a shaky defensive outlook. And Matt Mervis moves back up to sixth. Here’s hoping the results start matching the exit velocity. He’s smoking the ball when he does make contact, but (1) he’s not making enough contact and (2) when he does, it’s been right at guys.
Meanwhile, Tucker Barnhart finally draws a start with both Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya finally getting the night off. I was wondering when we’d see Barnhart again. I suppose it’s heartening to know that it took a righty like Anthony DeSclafani, with significant splits favoring lefties, to get him back in there. That should be the extent of his usage for now.
San Francisco Giants Lineup:
- LaMonte Wade Jr., 1B
- Thairo Estrada, 2B
- Joc Pederson, DH
- Michael Conforto, DH
- J.D. Davis, 3B
- Mike Yastrzemski, CF
- Blake Sabol, LF
- Patrick Bailey, C
- Brandon Crawford, SS
Pitching Matchup:
Chicago Cubs: Marcus Stroman, RHP
What’s left to say about Marcus Stroman, who should absolutely represent the Cubs at the 2023 MLB All-Star game. Fresh off Player-of-the-Week honors, Stroman will look to continue a red-hot streak that began just after a blowup in Minnesota. His last four starts: 29.0 IP, 12H, 3ER, 8BB, 21K … and a 65.8% groundball rate! The average exit velocity is a little higher than you want, I guess, but when you have an average launch angle of 1.0 degree, that just doesn’t matter. He’s locked in and he’s been very good. Hopefully, that’ll take some pressure off the Cubs lineup, which has just gone completely dormant.
San Francisco Giants: Anthony DeSclafani, RHP
I’m guessing most of the readers around here are plenty familiar with DeSclafani from his time with the Reds. That said, he’s a bit of a different pitcher with the Giants than he was with the Reds. He throws his four-seamer WAY less than he used to and has increased the usage of his sinker, change-up, and slider. Technically, in terms of results, that’s been a good change for DeSclafani (3.97 ERA, 4.1% walk rate), but he’s hardly striking anybody out (17.6%) and has generally been hit pretty hard. As has been true throughout his career, DeSclafani is hit much better by lefties than righties.
Broadcast Info:
Chicago Cubs (26-36) vs San Francisco Giants (32-30) at 9:15 pm CT on MARQ, 670 The Score
