Cubs Lineup — The Chicago Cubs beat one Brewers ace yesterday, can they do it again today? Here’s a look at the Chicago Cubs lineup for the EXTREMELY important rubber match at Wrigley Field. Win, and the Cubs are just 3.0 games out of first place. Lose, and they’re five games out. I don’t expect to have many fingernails left after this one.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Mike Tauchman, CF
- Nico Hoerner, 2B
- Ian Happ, LF
- Cody Bellinger, 1B
- Dansby Swanson, SS
- Seiya Suzuki, RF
- Jeimer Candelario, DH
- Nick Madrigal, 3B
- Miguel Amaya, C
Today’s Cubs lineup looks awfully similar to the one that just narrowly beat the Brewers last night. The only differences? Jeimer Candelario moves to DH, bumping Chris Morel to the bench. Nick Madrigal comes in to play third, where his defense has looked even better lately than it did at the beginning of the season (when it was already better than we had anticipated). And Miguel Amaya is the man behind the plate.
Amaya has been catching Kyle Hendricks (who’s been calling his own games anyway) a lot lately. And with the day game following a night game, this was always the setup we were going to see.
This is a big one, my friends! Go Cubs!
Milwaukee Brewers Lineup:
- Christian Yelich, LF
- William Contrearas, C
- Carlos Santana, 1B
- Sal Frelick, CF
- Willy Adames, SS
- Rowdy Tellez, DH
- Mark Canha, RF
- Brice Turang, 2B
- Andruw Monasterio, 3B
Pitching Matchup:
Chicago Cubs: Kyle Hendricks, RHP
Kyle Hendricks has now put four solid starts between himself and that blow-up against the Braves, allowing just 8 earned runs over his last 23.0 IP (3.13 ERA). Two of those outings have been quality starts, and a third was just one out away. Hendricks has done that thing lately, where he struggles early before settling down. But you’ll take that outcome again today, so long as the final line keeps the Cubs competitive. Hendricks faced the Brewers once earlier this season (on the Fourth of July), and it was a very fine outing: 6.0 IP, 4H, 1ER, 1BB, 5K. If he could do that again today, that would be BEAUTIFUL.
Milwaukee Brewers: Brandon Woodruff, RHP
Brandon Woodruff is just four starts into his return from a lengthy stay on the injured list (strained shoulder), and so far the results (3.57 ERA) have far out-paced the peripherals (5.08 FIP). On the one hand, Woodruff has struck out an obscene 29 batters in these 22.2 innings (33.3%) while waling just six (6.9%). But on the other, a 91.5 MPH average exit velocity, a 47.1% hard hit rate, a 21 degree launch angle (30 GB%), and a 9.8% barrel rate is nothing to write home over. No, I suspect the .178 BABIP and 95.2% strand rate are due for some SERIOUS regression. And I hope the Cubs lineup can provide that this afternoon.
Broadcast Info:
Chicago Cubs (70-62) vs Milwaukee Brewers (74-58) at 1:20 pm CT on MARQ, 670 The Score
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