NEWSLETTER
CUBS LINEUP — Justin Steele is officially back, and the Padres are in town. Here’s a look at Craig Counsell’s lineup against our old friend Yu Darvish, whom the Cubs will face tonight for the second time this season.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Nico Hoerner, 2B
- Mike Tauchman, RF
- Ian Happ, LF
- Chris Morel, DH
- Michael Busch, 1B
- Dansby Swanson, SS
- Nick Madrigal, 3B
- Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF
- Yan Gomes, C
The Cubs lineup tonight has basically no peculiarities, other than Christopher Morel setting up as the DH so Nick Madrigal can try to put a bat on one of Yu Darvish’s three-thousand different pitches.
None of the Cubs players tonight have a particularly long history with Darvish. Dansby Swanson (17 ABs) has the most, and he has just three hits and three walks to his name. Yan Gomes does have five hits in 11 at-bats plus a homer. Shrug. It’s not much of a sample, but I’d take some of that tonight!
The Cubs did chase Darvish after just three innings the last time these two teams met, but that Cubs lineup had Seiya Suzuki and Cody Bellinger.
San Diego Padres Lineup:
- Luis Arraez, DH
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
- Jake Cronenworth, 1B
- Jurickson Profar, LF
- Xander Bogaerts, 2B
- Donovan Solano, 3B
- Ha Seong Kim, SS
- Luis Campusano, C
- Jackson Merrill, CF
Pitching Matchup:
Chicago Cubs: Justin Steele, LHP
You know the story, Justin Steele is making his first start for the Cubs since Opening Day, when he went down with a hamstring injury. He may be rusty, and we’ll have to be okay with that, but it sure is good to have him back. One thing that helps? The Padres have been quite terrible against left-handed pitching this season.
San Diego Padres: Yu Darvish, RHP
Yu Darvish has made just two starts since the last time he faced the Cubs, spending some time on the IL with neck tightness. In those two starts, he kept the Dodgers and Reds to just three earned runs total over 10.0 IP. And notably, his strikeout rate has really slipped this season, down to 21.0% coming into tonight.
Broadcast Info:
Chicago Cubs (21-14) vs San Diego Padres (18-19) at 6:40 pm CT – Marquee Sports Network, 670 The Score
