NEWSLETTER
CUBS LINEUP — Shota Imanaga is on the mound. The sun is shining. The Cubs have won two games in a row. And we have a 1:20 start at Wrigley Field. Life has been worse.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Nico Hoerner, 2B
- Seiya Suzuki, RF
- Cody Bellinger, CF
- Chris Morel, DH
- Ian Happ, LF
- Patrick Wisdom, 1B
- Dansby Swanson, SS
- David Bote, 3B
- Miguel Amaya, C
It’s a pretty standard vsLHP Cubs lineup for Craig Counsell today. And that means Patrick Wisdom is at first base (with Michael Busch on the bench), while David Bote is at third base (with Chris Morel at DH).
Miguel Amaya is still the man behind the plate today, though I’m sure we’ll see Nido soon enough, and Nico Hoerner is leading off, as he has been since Mike Tauchman went down. And with a Mets lefty on the mound today and Sunday, Hoerner might just stay in that spot all weekend and beyond.
Jose Quintana has actually been close to split neutral this season, though righties have hit him better for most of his career.
New York Mets Lineup:
- Francisco Lindor, SS
- Brandon Nimmo, LF
- J.D. Martinez, DH
- Pete Alonso, 1B
- Starling Marte, RF
- Mark Vientos, 3B
- Francisco Alvarez, C
- Jose Iglesias, 2B
- Harison Bader, CF (…can’t wait for this guy to piss us off all weekend)
Pitching Matchup:
Chicago Cubs: Shota Imanaga, LHP
Shota Imanaga is taking the field for the 14th time in his big league career this afternoon, and he does so with a 1.89 ERA, a 25.8% strikeout rate, and a 3.6% walk rate. He’s still got at least three more starts before the All-Star break, but if he can keep it up, he’s looking like a solid bet to be the NL starter for the All-Star game (and possibly the Cubs lone representative). Imanaga’s last start came against the Cardinals, and it was a good one: 7.0 IP, 4H, 1ER, 0BB, 6Ks. That said, the Mets have actually been incredible against left-handed pitching this season (118 wRC+), and have gone on a strong run here lately (8-2 in their last ten). Not an easy matchup.
New York Mets: Jose Quintana, LHP
Our old friend, Jose Quintana, has not had a very good season overall, but he does have three quality starts over his last five outings. Of course, two of those were just barely quality starts, and two other others were very short and ineffective (4.0 IP, 3ER against the D-Backs, 3.2 IP, 3ER against the Phillies). Given his history on the Cubs and the fact that Tomas Nido, a former Mets catcher, is now in the Cubs dugout, you’d like to think the Cubs lineup would have an advantage today, but we’ll see.
Broadcast Info:
Chicago Cubs (36-39) vs New York Mets (35-38) at 1:20 pm CT – Marquee Sports Network, FS1, 670 The Score
