Cubs vs Cardinals — With their timely back-to-back wins in Pittsburgh, the Chicago Cubs have risen from the cellar of the NL Central back up to second place. Of course, the gap between second and first (4 games) is double the gap between second and fifth (2 games). So, take from that what you will.
Starting tonight, the Cubs will face the team directly behind them in the standings, the Cardinals, who have two fewer wins, but also one less loss. The Cardinals have definitely been a surprising team this year, already increasing their projected season-win total by five games with a hot 18-13 start. However, they’ve slowed down lately, going 11-12 in May, with some particular trouble against their NL Central foes lately.
Last three series, outcome:
vs Brewers: 3-game sweep vs Reds: split 2-game series vs Pirates: lost 2 out of 3Not that the Cubs have much room to talk. We obviously just watched them snap a 10-game losing streak with back-to-back wins against the Pirates. And while the offense may finally be waking up, the pitching could still be a problem.
With that said, the Cubs have their top two starters going tonight (Shota Imanaga) and tomorrow (Ben Brown), with their worst starter, Jordan Wicks, throwing in the finale.
Of course, Imanaga has had two HORRIBLE outings in a row, with 15 earned runs spread over just 10.1 IP. The reason? You gussed it: Homers.
The Astros launched three off Imanaga on May 24, and six days before that, the Brewers hit two. Those five homers allowed match the total number of homers he gave up in his first nine starts this season. His ERA before those two starts? 2.32. His ERA today? 4.04.
The good news here, however, is that his velocity isn’t hurting. Imanaga was sitting at (or very close to) 92 MPH in each of his last two starts, which is where he was early in the year, too. And perhaps more to the point, that’s nearly 2 MPH higher than most starts last season, when he was consistently a problem.
The other good news for both Imanaga and Wicks, for that matter, is that the Cardinals are a much weaker offense vs left-handed pitching (95 wRC+) than they are against righties (104 wRC+). Maybe a bounce-back outing is on the table for both guys, then.
But Saturday night is the matchup to watch, because that’s when Ben Brown is starting again. Brown has been a revelation this season, especially since stepping into the rotation, and continues to deliver the goods over increasingly long outings as he’s stretched out:
@TEX: 4.0 IP, 0H, 0ER, 1BB, 3K@ATL: 4.0 IP, 1H, 0ER, 1BB, 7KvsMIL: 5.0 IP, 3H, 3ER, 2BB, 6K@PIT: 6.0 IP, 4H, 1ER, 2BB, 7K
As a starter, with more pitches available to him than he has in other seasons, Brown has a 57.8% groundball rate, a 29.9% strikeout rate, and a 7.8% walk rate. That’s about as good as you can reasonably expect or hope for him to be. We knew the upside was always in there, but it seems he’s finally realizing it *as a starter* and at a most critical time for the Cubs. He is genuinely the best storyline of the season.
As for their pitching competition, the Cardinals are starting Andre Pallante tonight (3.76 ERA), Kyle Leahy on Saturday (4.44 ERA), and Matthew Liberatore on Sunday (4.76 ERA). That means the Cubs were fortunate enough to miss both Dustin May and Michael McGreevy, who’ve been having the most success this season. Good news/lucky break there.
On the Cardinals, Jordan Walker is the guy to watch out for offensively. The former tip-top prospect had a very slow start to his career, but is finally breaking out this season in a very big way: .300/.367/.576 (166 wRC+) with 15 homers. Avoid giving up too much damage to him, specifically, and you might be able to limit the damage overall.
Cubs vs Cardinals – Pitching Probables:
Game 1: Friday, May 29 at 6:15 PM CT at Busch StadiumBroadcast Info: MARQ, 104.3 The Score
Cubs: Shota Imanaga, LHP Cardinals: Andre Pallante, RHPGame 2: Saturday, May 30 at 6:15 PM CT at Busch StadiumBroadcast Info: FOX, 104.3 The Score
Cubs: Ben Brown, RHP Cardinals: Kyle Leahy, RHPGame 3: Sunday, May 27 at 5:40 PM CT at PNCBroadcast Info: MARQ, 104.3 The Score
Cubs: Jordan Wicks, LHP Cardinals: Matthew Liberatore, LHPCubs vs Cardinals – Key Injuries:
Chicago Cubs:
Matt Shaw, UTL Matthew Boyd, SP Edward Cabrera, 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)St. Louis Cardinals:
Ramon Urias, IF Nathan Church, OF Lars Nootbaar, OFHence then, the article about you snapped the losing streak now start a winning streak cubs vs cardinals series preview was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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