NEWSLETTER
Cubs Lineup — All right, Cubs. Deadline Day is here and you’ve already become buyers. It’s time to set all the distractions to the side and focus on winning every single game down the stretch. Starting with tonight against Ben Lively and the Cincinnati Reds. Here’s a look at the Chicago Cubs lineup for Game 2 against the NL Central leaders. Now with 100% more Jeimer Candelario.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Mike Tauchman, RF
- Nico Hoerner, 2B
- Ian Happ, LF
- Cody Bellinger, CF
- Dansby Swanson, SS
- Jeimer Candelario, 1B
- Chris Morel, DH
- Nick Madrigal, 3B
- Tucker Barnhart, C
Jeimer Candelario is here! And he’s playing first base today, though I’m not sure QUITE how much that tells us about the Cubs plans against a right-handed pitcher on most days. Why? Well, for one, Seiya Suzuki is not going to sit out most days, but he is tonight. And that opens up right field for Tauchman and center field for Bellinger (and, thus, first base for Candelario). If Suzuki (and everyone else) is in there on a normal night, you might see Candelario jump over to third base.
The only other decision-point tonight is Tucker Barnhart at catcher, though with Lively’s lefty/righty splits, I’m not too surprised or concerned:
vLHH: .252/.303/.504 (.343 wOBA); 19.3 K%
vRHH: .238/.289/.373 (.291 wOBA); 25.2 K%
Plus, Barnhart has actually been a league-average bat (100 wRC+) since the beginning of June (128 wRC+ since the beginning of July!). It’s been only 45 plate appearances, but it’s progress! Go Cubs.
Cincinnati Reds Lineup:
- Elly De La Cruz, 3B
- Nick Senzel, LF
- Matt McLain, SS
- Spencer Steer, DH
- Kevin Newman, 2B
- Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 1B
- Tyler Stephenson, C
- TJ Friedl, CF
- Stuart Fairchild, RF
Pitching Matchup:
Chicago Cubs: Justin Steele, LHP
Justin Steele had a hiccup there against the Red Sox — right in the middle of Marcus Stroman’s struggles — and that had me sweating. But he followed that dug up with two really great starts against the Cardinals, allowing just three earned runs on 11 hits and four walks in 12.1 IP (13Ks). Steele has generally been locked in all year and I feel good about having him on the mound tonight. HOWEVER, the Reds did absolutely torch Steele earlier this year at Wrigley Field: 3.2 IP, 10H, 5ER, 0BB, 4K. So he’ll have to change something up if he wants to avoid a repeat of that disaster.
Cincinnati Reds: Ben Lively, RHP
The Cubs lineup has squared up against Ben Lively yet this season, but I don’t see many reasons to be afraid. Lively has mediocre+ results with really bad peripherals, including a tiny ground ball rate, an unsustainably high strand rate, a low-BABIP, and plenty of quality contact. He’s not a disaster – by any means. In fact, he just held the Brewers to two earned runs over 6.2 IP. But he’s not a stud. The offense has been clicking lately and they should continue that tonight.
Broadcast Info:
Chicago Cubs (53-53) vs Cincinnati Reds (59-49) at 7:05 pm CT on MARQ, 670 The Score
If you want to get in on some action for today’s Cubs-Sox game, and you’re from Chicago, head over to our Illinois Online Sports Betting page for the latest deals and offers.
