CUBS LINEUP — With the lingering offensive funk, the hints of changes to the lineup, and not one (Pedro Ramirez), but TWO (Kevin Alcantara) of the Cubs top prospects arriving in Chicago in the last 24 hours, this had to be one of the more anticipated Cubs lineups of the season.
And although neither prospect is getting a start today, this definitely represents a shake-up.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF Alex Bregman, 3B Michael Busch, 1B Nico Hoerner, 2B Michael Conforto, LF Seiya Suzuki, RF Moises Ballesteros, DH Miguel Amaya, C Dansby Swanson, SSFirst and foremost, as anticipated, Ian Happ is getting a much-needed and long-overdue day off. For him, the strikeout issues have simply reached a critical mass. He needed to reset. In his place, Michael Conforto is manning left field, batting fifth.
And he’s batting fifth, not cleanup, because the entire top of the order looks different today, and not just because the lack of Happ.
Pete Crow-Armstrong is leading off, which I don’t hate. I know we’ve all thought about it before (because of his speed), but PCA has also been hitting a bit better since his cold start to the year. In May, he has a 107 wRC+ with a 10.1% walk rate and 20.2 K%. But going back to April 14 (conveniently), he’s slashing .242/.345/.433 (125 wRC+). Maybe he can get on base and create a little havoc.
Alex Bregman stays roughly where he’s been all year, which I actually think is fine.
But then the other big changes: Michael Busch and Nico Hoerner are bringing some contact to the middle of the Cubs order.
That pushes Seiya Suzuki all the way down to sixth.
Moises Ballesteros is also starting today, which makes sense given Kai-Wei Teng’s lefty/righty splits (more on that below). And, indeed, that’s partly why it made sense NOT to start the right-handed Kevin Alcantara today.
Maybe Alcantara get some run, maybe he won’t, but coming up and immediately facing a righty who’s been brutal on righties doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. And, who knows, maybe he can pop a pinch-hit homer later in the game. I’ll call that one now.
We’ll have to wait at least another day to see what the Cubs lineup looks like when Ian Happ returns, but a shakeup was promised, and that’s generally what we got. Let’s see if it works!
Houston Astros Lineup:
TBAPitching Matchup:
Chicago Cubs: Colin Rea, RHP
After a pretty flawless (relatively speaking) start to the year in both the bullpen and rotation, Colin Rea has started to show some cracks lately.
Two starts ago, the Braves tagged him for five earned runs on seven hits and a walk (with just one strikeout). And last time out, the White Sox got him for four earned runs on six hits and a walk over just 4.2 IP.
Combine that with his one bad start against the Dodgers earlier this year, and all that other good work still amounts to just a 4.98 ERA over 47.0 IP.
Given the way the Cubs lineup has (not) been hitting lately, that simply isn’t good enough. It’s not really his fault; he’s not even supposed to be IN the rotation, let alone the second or third best option, as he is right now, but the Cubs still need more out of him.
Maybe he’ll flip the script back today.
Houston Astros: Kai-Wei Teng, RHP
The Astros are also going with a swing-starter today, Kai-Wei Teng.
Teng, 27, spent his first two big league seasons with the Giants to very little success and a mix of starts/relief appearances. But this year, things are going better for him: 2.61 ERA, 3.76 xERA, 3.77 FIP.
He’s made only three starts with the Astros, the longest of which (his last game) was just 5.0 innings. But the overall product has been solid. The walk rate is a little high, but not egregious. The groundball rate is a little low, but not awful. The strikeout rate is slightly above average. And he’s managed contact fairly well: 6.2 barrel% (better than average), 35.2 hard% (better than average).
For his career, he’s been split neutral, but this season (roughly half his innings), he’s had traditional lefty/righty splits, with lefties hitting him a LOT better than righties:
vsLHH: .236/.323/.473 (.350 wOBA)vsRHH: .161/.254/.179 (.213 wOBA)
Both types of batters are walking and striking out at almost the exact same clip, but lefties are hitting a LOT more line drives and a LOT more hard contact.
In terms of pitch mix, Teng actually leads the way with his slider (36%) and follows with his 94 MPH fastball (27.6%). But he also uses a sinker, a curveball, and a changeup with some regularity.
Broadcast Info:
First Pitch: 1:20 pm CT How to Watch Today’s Cubs Game: MARQ How to Listen to Today’s Cubs Game: 104.3 The Score Matchup: Chicago Cubs (29-22) vs Houston Astros (21-31)Cubs vs Astros – Key Injuries:
Chicago Cubs:
Matthew Boyd, SP Hunter Harvey, RP Riley Martin, RP Tyler Austin, IF/OF (60-Day IL) Porter Hodge, RP (60-Day IL) Cade Horton, SP (60-Day IL) Shelby Miller, RP (60-Day IL) Justin Steele, SP (60-Day IL)Houston Astros:
Joey Loperfido, OF Taylor Trammell, OF Yainer Diaz, C Carlos Correa, IF Jose Altuve, 2B Bennett Sousa, RP Lance McCullers Jr., SP Hayden Wesneski, SP Ronel Blanco, SP Brandon Walter, SP Josh Hader, RP Hunter Brown, SP Cristian Javier, SPCubs vs Astros – Wrigley Field Weather Report
Location: Chicago, ILTemperature: 57 degreesWind: Blowing in, weak (9 MPH)
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