NEWSLETTER
Cubs vs Phillies — This week, the Chicago Cubs are hosting the Philadelphia Phillies for three games at Wrigley Field, culminating in a Fourth of July finale at 1:20. All three games will be carried nationally (first via TBS and the on MLBN) in addition to Marquee Sports Network. And since the Phillies are also the best team in baseball, I’d say this will be a pretty high-profile series.
Fortunately, for the Cubs, the Phillies are without J.T. Realmuto, Bryce Harper, and Kyle Schwarber this week. Unfortunately for the Cubs, they’re the Cubs! And the quality of their opponent hasn’t mattered much. Plus, the Cubs drew Zack Wheeler, who’s having an excellent season overall (2.73 ERA over 105.2 IP with 112 Ks). Aside from two random blowups against the Orioles and Marlins, Wheeler has been incredible this year.
The Cubs are also scheduled to face Cristopher Sanchez, who’s been even better: 2.41 ERA (2.38 FIP) over 16 starts and 93.1 IP. Sanchez doesn’t have the strikeout stuff Wheeler does, but his 4.8% barrel rate and 60.3% groundball rate make for a very tough opponent.
On the flip side, the Cubs do have Shota Imanaga scheduled to go up against Wheeler on Wednesday, which should be a really fun matchup, if nothing else.
But like Brett said this morning, we’re well past the point of this being a “litmus” test or anything of the sort. The Cubs will either rattle off ten wins in a row (or some crazy winning equivalent) or they will sell at the 2024 MLB Trade Deadline. That’s pretty much where we are. Doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some Fourth of July baseball, though. It’s still be fun to beat the Phillies. Do it for America, Cubs. Do it for us.
Cubs vs Phillies – Pitching Probables:
Game 1: Tuesday, July 2 at 7:05pm CT at Wrigley Field
Broadcast Info: Marquee Sports Network, TBS, 670 The Score
Game 2: Wednesday, July 3 at 7:05 CT at Wrigley Field
Broadcast Info: Marquee Sports Network, MLBN, 670 The Score
Game 3: Thursday, July 4 at 1:20 CT at Wrigley Field
Broadcast Info: Marquee Sports Network, MLBN, 670 The Score
