CUBS LINEUP — Another day, another rubber match. That’s all we have around here. Let’s take a look at the Cubs lineup for the finale at Wrigley Field against Dylan Cease and the Padres.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Nico Hoerner, SS
- Mike Tauchman, RF
- Cody Bellinger, DH
- Chris Morel, 3B
- Ian Happ, LF
- Michael Busch, 1B
- Miles Mastrobuoni, 2B
- Yan Gomes, C
- Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF
Lefties are hitting Cease a lot better than righties are this season, so Craig Counsell has loaded up his lineup this afternoon. That said, there’s really just one extra lefty than normal (Miles Mastrobuoni), with Dansby Swanson getting a day off.
That’s still six left-handed bats in the lineup. Kinda nuts. Here’s a look at Cease’s career splits:
vRHH: .202/.289/.336 (.277 wOBA)
vLHH: .244/.330/.416 (.324 wOBA)
Lefties aren’t hitting him as well as usual this season (.296 wOBA), but righties are WAY worse off (.133 wOBA).
San Diego Padres Lineup:
- Luis Arraez, DH
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
- Jake Cronenworth, 1B
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Jurickson Profar, LF
- Xander Bogaerts, 2B
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Luis Campusano, C
- Ha-Seong Kim, SS
Pitching Matchup:
Chicago Cubs: Hayden Wesneski, RHP
Hayden Wesneski’s last start was among the finest of his career: 6.1 IP, 3H, 0ER, 2BB, 8Ks. A repeat of that this afternoon would be just excellent. However, that Padres lineup is pretty intimidating, and they’ve hit righties really well this season: 123 wRC+ (second best in MLB). And that was largely earned BEFORE they added Arraez, who hits righties way better than lefties, himself.
San Diego Padres: Dylan Cease, RHP
Dylan Cease has been incredible this season, there’s really no way around it. He had one hiccup in Philadelphia, where the Phillies tagged him for five runs on five hits and three walks, but other than that he’s been SO so good. His last start, against the D-Backs, featured eight strikeouts and no walks over 6.2 IP with just one run scored. And, of course, he held the Cubs scoreless over 6.0 innings the last time they met in early April.
Broadcast Info:
Chicago Cubs (22-15) vs San Diego Padres (19-20) at 1:20 pm CT – Marquee Sports Network, 670 The Score