CUBS LINEUP — Losing to the Braves (and then Jared Jones and Paul Skenes), when you have 10 people on the IL, including your entire middle infield, is not really that concerning to me. It sucks and banking losses is not good. But I don’t suddenly think this definitely good Cubs team is bad.
Shota Imanaga is on the mound for Game 3 today. Let’s just win these next two and keep moving. Here’s a look at the Cubs lineup against the lefty Bailey Falter.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Patrick Wisdom, 1B
- Seiya Suzuki, RF
- Cody Bellinger, CF
- Chris Morel, 3B
- Mike Tauchman, LF
- Ian Happ, DH
- Nick Madrigal, 2B
- Miles Mastrobuoni, SS
- Yan Gomes, C
With Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson still out, the Cubs middle infield continues to be managed by Nick Madrigal and Miles Mastrobuoni, which is just not ideal (especially against a lefty). And with Hoerner out, and Happ not leading off right now, the Cubs needed a new leadoff man today for the southpaw. They picked Patrick Wisdom, who makes as much sense as anyone versus a lefty. Still seems like a funny spot for him.
But not an entirely new one!
Wisdom has taken 11 PAs as a teams leadoff hitter in his career, including one game earlier this year. Overall, he’s gone 4-11 with five strikeouts and two doubles in those chances. Let’s just hope Shota Imanaga can dominate again.
Pittsburgh Pirates Lineup:
- TBA
Pitching Matchup:
Chicago Cubs: Shota Imanaga, LHP
The Braves logged seven hits and three walks in Shota Imanaga’s last start, which was just five innings long, but he still blanked them thanks to some gutsy high-leverage moments with runners in scoring position. For the season, Imanaga has a 0.96 ERA and continues to look like one of the more dominant pitchers in baseball. But like I said when Steele took the mound on Thursday, let’s not forget that the Pirates (110 wRC+) are pretty strong against left-handed pitching this season. They’re not as good as the Braves, but it’s not a cake-walk lineup for southpaws.
Pittsburgh Pirates: Bailey Falter, LHP
Despite facing a Cubs team who’s actually top-5 offensively vs left-handed pitching for the season, Bailey Falter kept the Cubs lineup to just two earned runs over 6.0 IP his last time out. But that was hardly Falter’s only good start of the season. He also kept the Brewers to just one run over 7.0 IP (8Ks) and the Orioles scoreless over 6.0 IP, among some other successful appearances. So I definitely wouldn’t take anything for granted this afternoon.
