CUBS LINEUP โ Even if you didn’t know Cubs had been officially eliminated from the 2024 playoff picture last night, you could probably tell by Craig Counsell’s Sunday lineup. A couple regulars are out.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Ian Happ, LF
- Dansby Swanson, SS
- Michael Busch, 1B
- Seiya Suzuki, DH
- Mike Tauchman, RF
- Isaac Paredes, 3B
- Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF
- Miguel Amaya, C
- Miles Mastrobuoni, 2B
Cody Bellinger and Nico Hoerner are both getting the afternoon off, replaced by Mike Tauchman in right field and Miles Mastrobuoni at second base. Pete Crow-Armstrong moves up a spot in the shuffle.
Tauchman and Mastrobuoni (both lefties) could be set up for nice days at the plate, seeing as today’s Nationals starter, Jake Irvin, doesn’t have the best history versus left-handed batters: .258/.329/.467 (.342 wOBA).
Washington Nationals Lineup:
- TBA
Pitching Matchup:
Chicago Cubs: Shota Imanaga, LHP
This afternoon will mark Shota Imanaga’s 29th start of the season, putting him on pace for an even 30 for his “rookie” campaign in MLB. He’s sitting right at a 3.03 ERA, which is just a fantastic debut, but I’m hoping he can get it under 3.00 before the end of the year. It’ll be tight, but it’s doable. Imanaga has thrown five quality starts in a row, most recently striking out 11(!) Oakland A’s in six innings of work. Note: While the Nationals actually have one of the lowest strikeout rates vesus left-handers this season (20.1 K%, top-5 in MLB), their overall production vs lefties is quite poor: 87 wRC+, 25th in MLB).
- Julian Merryweather, RP
- Nick Madrigal, IF
- Ben Brown, RP
- Colten Brewer, RP
- Yency Almonte, RP
- Luke Little, RP
- Adbert Alzolay, RP
- Brennen Davis, OF
- Alex Call, OF
- Jordan Weems, RP
- Joan Adon, RP
- Cade Cavalli, SP
- Mason Thompson, RP
- Josiah Gray, SP
Washington Nationals: Jake Irvin, RHP
Jake Irvin isn’t having the STRONGEST season overall (4.07 ERA), but doing that over 31 starts and 179.1 IP coming into today is its own kind of value. He doesn’t strike many guys out, but he doesn’t walk many either. And really, he’s just perfectly average across the board, the further I dig into his numbers.
Broadcast Info:
Chicago Cubs (79-76) vs Washington Nationals (69-86) at 1:20 pm CT – Marquee Sports Network, 670 The Score