Author: berselius

Cubs do the thing, sign Shota Imanaga

The Cubs finally broke the seal and made a major league transaction, signing Japanese lefty starting pitcher Shota Imanaga. The news broke earlier this week, but the details of the Rube Goldberg machine of a contract didn’t take shape until late this evening. Here’s the rundown, with all the conditionals

Nominal contract:

If no one does anything, Shota Imanaga is under contract for 4 years and $53 million.

After year 2:

The Cubs can decide to add a fifth year to the contract, for an extra $27 million. If they do not choose to do this, Imanaga can opt to give up the rest of the contract and become a free agent. Or he can stick around on the original deal.

After year 3:

If neither side opts to do anything after year 2, the same deal is on the table. 1/27 extension, free agency, or Imanaga remains.

Nothing has been reported as far as the year-by-year breakdowns that I can see, so basically it sounds like it can be any of (spitballing on the numbers here)

  • 2/23
  • 3/38
  • 4/53
  • 5/80

This deal seems like a steal for the Cubs – even if it’s a complete bust, 4/53 is more than eat-able for this team. And if Imanaga looks good, they basically have the first right of refusal to keep him around instead of him just opting out after 2 years, which is something I more or less expect in most of the big FA deals that Boras is likely pushing.

How good is Imanaga?

He’s kind of hard to find a comp for, as most left handed starters tend to follow the Randy Johnson mold (i.e., super tall), while Imanaga is “only” 5′ 10″. His fastball only gets up to 92 or so (as a starter), and given that he’s 30 years old there’s not much hope of that number ticking up. It does reportedly have a great spin rate, so I guess it’s not surprising that the Cubs targeted him (not that spin rate is really much of an inefficiency these days…) His slider is probably his best pitch but like other big name Japanese pitchers that have come to MLB he mixes in a lot of stuff, including a splitter that’s his main strikeout pitch. With his height and a relatively low release point, his pitches could look a lot different than what most batters see in MLB which might also provide a little extra juice to his stuff.

He’s been a decent strikeout guy but his calling card is his incredible command – he only walked only 1.4 batters per nine innings in NPB last year, a personal best, and his career walk numbers are Cyle-esque. When batters do make contact, he’s an extreme fly ball pitcher, which could be….interesting…on certain days at Wrigley Field. That makes me think of former Cub Ted Lilly, who certainly wasn’t a giant by MLB lefty standards either (6 feet). I wouldn’t be surprised to see a similar distribution of runs by Imanaga – in a month he’ll have five starts where he gives up one run or less and one where he gives up eight in two innings. In overall numbers that doesn’t look as great but might give the team a better chance at winning more games.

Dammit, now that I’ve thought of Lilly I can’t get the comp out of my head. Player comps are the wooooorst. Still, Lilly gave the Cubs 14.5 WAR over three and a half seasons, and I’m sure the Cubs would be thrilled with the same for Imanaga.

As far as any downsides go, Imanaga is a little older than most high profile free agents, though he does not have much of an injury history to speak of. Japanese pitchers don’t pitch quite as many innings as MLB pitchers do. Or at least, as much as they used to. He’s averaged around 150 innings per non-Covid year.

All in all this seems like a pretty great signing, and hopefully not the last one as this team still has glaring needs at corner infield and CF.

UPDATE 1/17:

The AP has the fine print on the structuring of the Imanaga deal, sounds like the various permutations are

Year 1: 10m
Year 2: 13m
Year 3, if no one exercises an option: 15m
Year 3, if Cubs exercise option after year 2: 20m
Year 4, if no options: 15m
Year 4, if Cubs exercise option after year 2: 20m
Year 4, if Cubs exercise option after year 3: 24m
Year 5, if Cubs exercise option after year 2: 17m
Year 5, if Cubs exercise option after year 3: 18m

So possible outcomes

2/23, if Cubs don’t extend and Imanaga opts out after year 2
3/38 if no extension the second time and Imanaga opts out after year 3
4/53 if no one picks any options (seems unlikely)
5/80, if Cubs pick up option/extension after year 2 or 3

Cubs 6, Rockies 3

OSS: Cubs scratch back runs to beat a bad team.

Three up:

  1. Yan Gomes (Yanny Bench?) had the biggest Cubs hit of the day. He hit a game-tying double in the sixth inning to tie up the game, good for .180 WPA.
  2. The Cubs WPA leader on the day was Nico, who had hits in the first and last innings that led to runs, drew two walks, and hit a sac fly in the fifth as the Cubs clawed back.
  3. His results were so-so but it was good to see Stroman back. His piggybacked start with Assad combined for seven innings, eight strikeouts, 1 walk and three runs.

Three down:

  1. I was out running errands for most of this game and was only in and out of the radio broadcast, but it seemed like the Cubs hit approximately 500 warning track outs today. I think the booth said the wind was blowing in but jeez.
  2. The Cubs had a chance to blow things wide open with the bases clogged in the seventh with nobody out, but only managed one run. Granted, that’s an improvement on what we’ve seen lately, but still not what you want.
  3. All the pregame stories were about David Ross apologizing to the Pirates manager for some frustrated comments earlier in the week. I finally looked up what he said and…that’s it? All he said is “that’s not a good team that we lost a series to”. I assumed he called them trash, said they sucked, whatever. The Pirates have been terrible for three decades (game 163 losses excluded), have a cheapass owner, and are on pace for yet another losing season. Let’s be real here fellas. It’s not like Rossy pointed any of this shit out.

Next up:

The Cubs go for the sweep with Jordan Wicks on the mound against Ty Blach at 1:20 CT.

The Marlins are currently beating the Beers 4-1 in the sixth inning as I write this. They start tomorrow at 12:40 CT.

The Dbacks were rained out against the Yankees, and MLB did a little schedule shifting to move their makeup game to monday, and their regularly scheduled monday game against the White Sox to Thursday. Given the current weather situation on the east coast there’s a good chance that Sunday’s game turns into a doubleheader on Monday. Good new for fellow wild card teams.

The Reds face the Pirates at 5:40 CT tonight, and again at 12:40 CT tomorrow.

Cubs 6, Rockies 0

OSS: Cubs cruise to the easy win we’ve been waiting to see.

Three+ up:

  1. Jameson Taillon (?!) had a solid start, striking out seven and shutting out the Rockies for six innings. There were a few walks in there but more importantly, few meatballs.
  2. Seiya Suzuki continued his hot second half of the season, going 3-4 with a homer, three RsBI, and two runs scored. In the second half of the season, he has a .298/.356/.556 slash line, good for a .380 wOBA and a 141 wRC+.
  3. Jared Young proved Ross’s faith in him today, I guess, by hitting a booming two run homer in the sixth to give the bullpen some much needed insurance runs.
  4. The Marlins were blown out by the Beers, so the Cubs are back in the lead for the last playoff spot
  5. Jeimer Candelario may be back very soon

Three down:

1. Still lots of head scratching over PCA and Canario not getting starts, but I guess it worked out today.
2-9: Pretty much all of the last week, oy.

Next up: The Cubs, now in sole posession of the last wild card spot, will ‘start’ Marcus Stroman against 90s JRPG NPC Chris Flexen at 1:20 PM CT.

Series Mini-Preview: Chicago Cubs (78-69) at Arid Zone Dbacks (76-72)

We just saw this team and I’m half asleep, so this will be even less preview content than usual (dying laughing).

Pitching Matchups

Friday: Justin Steele, LHP vs Brandon Pfaadt, RHP, 8:40 PM CT

Saturday: Cyle Hendricks, RHP vs Zach Davies, RHP, 7:10 PM CT

Sunday: Jordan Wicks, LHP vs Ryne Nelson, RHP, 6:10 PM CT

Unlike the series last week, the Cubs are dodging Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelley, by far the Dbacks best starters, and are throwing their arguably three best starters themselves. Score some runs, fellas. Or don’t. I can’t tell you what to do.

Cubs 5, Rockies 4

OSS: Yan Gomes, Clutch God

Three up:

  1. Yan Gomes was a clutch machine today, knocking in an insurance run in the sixth, followed up by a two-run go-ahead single in the top of the ninth. It’s his twelfth season in the majors, and he’s putting up his best WPA number by far in his career.
  2. Jordan Wicks had yet another solid start, allowing one run in six innings. A start at Coors is always a rough draw for a rookie but he just keeps cruising. Of the three hits he allowed, two were infield singles. I’ll take that in Denver (dying laughing).
  3. Chris Morel hit a bomb of a HR, even for Denver, that went 466 feet.

Three down:

  1. Cuas was all over the place in relief, though I’ll give Ross a smidge of a benefit of the doubt since Adbert is out.
  2. Maybe less benefit of the doubt for bringing in Fulmer in the ninth with a one run lead, just after coming off the IL with no rehab assignment. He did get the job done after some heartburn.
  3. PCA made his debut, which, yay, too bad it started off with a TOOTBLAN and a bunt attempt. Bunting for a hit will always be an exception to #neverbunt but I still hate it (dying laughing).

Next up:

Javier Assad takes on Chris Flexen, who sounds like a midboss in a middling 90’s JRPG.

Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (71-62) at Cincinnati Reds (69-66)

From on NL Central contender to another, whee. The Cubs face the Reds for the final (scheduled) series this year and it’s been a wild ride in the previous Reds series this year. The Cubs split two games with the Reds in early April before seeing the third game get rained out (and being made up today). The Cubs then got swept by the Reds at Wrigley in late May, prompting much pulling of hair and gnashing of teeth and general resignation about the state of the season. The Cubs didn’t face the Reds again until early August, and there’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos, and handily won three of four games including a two game stretch where the Cubs scored 36 runs.

The Reds just wrapped up a long west coast road trip to Anaheim, Arizona, and SF, where they managed to go 5-5. To their credit, they’ve managed to tread water while a bunch of their main contributors are on the shelf, but they’ve fallen behind a smidge in the playoff race during the Cubs and Beers stretch of hot play. Their playoff odds sit around 16%. The Cubs are just missing ace Hunter Greene, who pitched on Wednesday.

Team Leaders

Switching to actual numbers on the year!

Reds

  • OBP: Will Benson (.359)
  • ISO: Votto (.259)
  • HR: Spencer Steer (18)
  • R+RBI: Steer (133)
  • wRC+: Matt McLain (128)
  • BSR: TJ Friedl (7.3)
  • Defense: Elly de la Cruz (4.4)
  • SP K/9: Greene (12.02)
  • SP BB/9: Ben Lively (2.70)
  • SP FIP: Andrew Abbott (3.94)
  • RP K/9: Fernando Cruz (12.66)
  • RP BB/9: Buck Farmer (3.30)
  • RP FIP: Cruz (3.08)
  • WAR: McLain (3.2)

Cubs

  • OBP: Bellinger (.362)
  • ISO: Wisdom (.303)
  • HR: Wisdom (21)
  • R+RBI: Belli (153)
  • wRC+: Belli (139)
  • BSR: Hoerner (7.2)
  • Defense: Dansby (14.6)
  • SP K/9: Steele (8.81)
  • SP BB/9: Cyle (1.63)
  • SP FIP: Steele (3.09)
  • RP K/9: Merryweather (12.30)
  • RP BB/9: Alzolay (1.49)
  • RP FIP: Alzolay (2.78)
  • WAR: Dansby (3.9)

Who isn’t available?

Michael Fulmer is out indefinitely with the dreaded forearm strain diagnosis. Recent news makes it seem like there was something bugging him for a while and he might just be out for the minimum, and be back on Sep 10 or so. Stroman is still out with his rib cartilage issue, and did some long toss on Wednesday It’s still a big wild card as to what we’ll see from him in the next two to 14 months. Rule 5 guy Nick Burdi can’t catch a break this year – he was on his way back before an emergency appendectomy in late May, and since then he’s been diagnosed with some kind of ulnar nerve irritation. Given his status as a rule five guy this could just be David Patton disease but who knows. Brad Boxberger started a rehab assignment with Iowa last week, but given how long he’s been on the shelf it’s not clear that he can make an impact right away. He’s been getting rekt in Iowa, so that’s a further sign that he might not be back soon. Brandon Hughes has been pitching at the complex in Arizona and might get into a minor league game soon, if any teams are still playing.

For the Reds, shortstop and top WAR-haver Matt McLain hit the IL earlier this week with an oblique strain. Joey Votto has missed the last week or so with a shoulder injury but may be back soon. Jonathan India has been out for about a month with lingering plantar fasciitis injury which, I feel ya Jonathan, it sucks ass. CF Jake Fraley missed most of March with a fractured toe, and is working his way back in AAA.

Pitching Matchups, game times

2023 K/9, BB/9, ERA, FIP listed for all starters (projections for recent callups)

Friday G1: Jordan Wicks, LHP (7.78, 3.10, 4.50, 4.59) vs Graham Ashcraft, RHP (6.72, 3.26, 4.73, 5.11), 12:10 PM CT

Friday G2: Shane Greene(?) (7.71, 3.77, 4.99, 5.06) vs TBD, 5:40 PM CT

Saturday: Javier Assad, RHP (6.84, 3.65, 2.96, 4.44) vs Andrew Abbott, LHP (10.05, 3.45, 3.35, 3.94), 5:40 PM CT

Sunday: Jameson Taillon, RHP (7.84, 2.44, 5.62, 4.68) vs Brandon Williamson, RHP (7.94, 3.01, 4.20, 4.51) 11:10 AM CT

Cubs 3, Brewers 2

Belated postgame due to travel (dying laughing)

OSS: Cubs blow a lead late, the scratch their way back for a W

Three up:

  1. Cody Bellinger had the clutch ‘hit’ of the day, a grounder that deflected off Brewers pitcher Joel Payamps that turned into an infield single to drive in the go ahead run. The Cubs taking the lead on a crazy infield single was pretty emblematic of the whole series – aside from a first inning ‘hiccup’ by Taillon in game one, both teams felt like they were scratching out runs uphill both ways through the snow against some pretty solid pitching.
  2. Cyle had another solid start when the Cubs needed it, striking out six over six innings and allowing zero earned runs. The run that did score did lead from a throwing error of his own, good thing for him runs are still unearned when it’s your own error (dying laughing).
  3. The Cubs built their team on pitching and defense, and the defense managed to come through even when the pitching was scuffling late in the game. Nico and Dansby turned a DP in the ninth and Dansby was in perfect position (in part due to a runner going) to tag second to end the game. There’s not much that the defense can two about two straight walks and a HBP however.

Three Down

  1. Mark Leiter Jr has been solid all year, but he didn’t have any feel for his splitter in this game. I don’t blame Ross for putting him in – of the next four batters coming up, two were lefties and one was a switch hitter. He just couldn’t get it done in this one but I’m not super worried for future appearances.
  2. Alzolay came into the game in a tough situation and the game tying HBP was a bummer. But some props to him for closing out the game after all when the Cubs came back in the top of the inning.
  3. Bob Minocqua is pretty good, but it’s tough to win with only three hits, and a game narrative of ‘grab a narrow early lead and HODL’ is rough on the blood pressure (dying laughing).

Next up:

The Cubs kick off a four game set at the Great American Small Park, including a double header making up a rainout from early in the season. The Reds have faded a bit from where they were a month ago, but are still formidable. Hopefully the Cubs come away with at least a split, if not more.

Series Preview: Milwaukee Brewers (73-57) at Chicago Cubs (69-61)

I guess I can get off my lazy but and bang out a preview for what’s likely the most significant series to date this year, with the Cubs four games back going into the series. The surging Cubs took care of business in a soft stretch of the schedule, only to see the Beers bang out an 8 game winning streak against two division leaders and the frustrating Padres. At least they were polite enough to get swept by the Dodgers beforehand.

While there were a few frustrating moments along the way, the overall takeaway against this 7-3 stretch of bad teams was positive. Javier Assad continues to look strong after stepping up to fill in the rotation following Stroman’s odd injury and Smyly’s Wile E. Coyote-ing. Jordan Wicks shook off some initial jitters to look very strong in his MLB debut, and Keegan Thompson struck out five in two innings after his long-term abscence. Who knows if he’s fixed or not, but if the Cubs get even 80% of what these guys have shown so far, their reinforcements are hitting the club at just the right time. The bullpen was a shitshow three months ago, but I feel pretty good with a backend of Alzolay, Merryweather, Leiter, Cuas, (and resurgent Thompson)? *knocks on all the wood*. I guess losing Fulmer technically hurts a bit, but I was never the hugest fan (dying laughing).

For the Beers it’s tough to point to any one player in particular as to why they’ve taken off in the second half of the year. Some of it could just be guys getting healthier. Since July 1, Freddy Peralta and Corbin Burnes have each posted a sub-3.00 ERA in 19 combined starts for a combined 3.6 WAR. William Contreras, who learned how to frame in his brief time with the Crew, has posted 2 WAR in that stretch thanks to a .374 wOBA and great defensive numbers. Even Christian Yelich has broken somewhat out of his years long slump with a .361 wOBA.

Team Leaders

Switching to actual numbers on the year!

Beers

  • OBP: Yelich (.370)
  • ISO: Carlos Santana (.204)
  • HR: Willy Adames (21)
  • R+RBI: Yelich (156)
  • wRC+: Yelich (122)
  • BSR: Yelich (7.6)
  • Defense: Contreras (15.7)
  • SP K/9: Peralta (11.46)
  • SP BB/9: Adrian Houser (2.70)
  • SP FIP: Houser (3.86)
  • RP K/9: Devin Williams (13.50)
  • RP BB/9: Joel Payamps (1.67)
  • RP FIP: Williams (2.52)
  • WAR: Yelich (3.9)

Cubs

  • OBP: Bellinger (.365)
  • ISO: Wisdom (.296)
  • HR: Wisdom/Bellinger (20)
  • R+RBI: Belli (144)
  • wRC+: Belli (140)
  • BSR: Hoerner (7.1)
  • Defense: Dansby (14.5)
  • SP K/9: Steele (8.67)
  • SP BB/9: Cyle (1.55)
  • SP FIP: Steele (3.18)
  • RP K/9: Merryweather (12.33)
  • RP BB/9: Alzolay (1.40)
  • RP FIP: Alzolay (2.70)
  • WAR: Dansby (3.9)

Who isn’t available?

Michael Fulmer is out indefinitely with the dreaded forearm strain diagnosis. I haven’t seen much new on Stroman and his rib cartilage issue lately either, and would be surprised to see him back anytime soon. Rule 5 guy Nick Burdi can’t catch a break this year – he was on his way back before an emergency appendectomy in late May, and since then he’s been diagnosed with some kind of ulnar nerve irritation. Given his status as a rule five guy this could just be David Patton disease but who knows. Brad Boxberger started a rehab assignment with Iowa last week, but given how long he’s been on the shelf it’s not clear that he can make an impact right away.

For the Beers, Adrian Houser left Sunday’s game with forearm tightness. The Cubs won’t face him this week but this could be a big loss to the Brewers rotation if it ends up being a serious injury. Rehabbing starter Julio Teheran is rehabbing a pitch injury in AAA. Yet another injured starter, Aaron Ashby, is rehabbing from shoulder surgery performed back in April and likely won’t be stretched out enough to start this year, but could show up in the pen before all is said and done. Recent CF callup Sal Frelick, who has looked good in limited time, is dealing with a nagging hamstring injury.

Pitching Matchups, game times

2023 K/9, BB/9, ERA, FIP listed for all starters
Great to see the Cubs current three best guys line up for this series, and that they avoid Cub kryptonite Freddy Peralta. Not that these other guys are slouches either.

Monday: Wade Miley, LHP (6.06, 2.77, 3.18, 4.55) vs Jameson Taillon, RHP (7.78, 2.57, 5.60, 4.64), 7:05 PM CT

Tuesday: Corbin Burnes, RHP (9.11, 3.19, 3.65, 4.00) vs Justin Steele, LHP (8.67, 1.96, 2.80, 3.18), 7:05 PM CT

Woden’s day: Bronson Arborvitae, RHP (10.85, 2.38, 2.65, 4.42) vs Cyle Hendricks, RHP (5.87, 1.55, 3.80, 3.97) 1:20 PM CT

A bit disappointing that Miley and Hendricks did not match up, that would be quite the Weak-Contact-Off.

Cubs 3, Yankees 0

OSS: Where’s this Jameson Taillon guy been all season?

Three up:

  1. Jameson Taillon threw eight innings on one hit ball against his former team, walking two and striking out four. Taillon has been a cipher all year, mixing in great pitches with meatballs with no discernible pattern. It’s too early to tell if he is breaking the trend of ree agent pitcher signings that can’t get it together for the ~18 months following signing with the Cubs. Small sample size may apply, YMMV, etc. etc.
  2. Cody Bellinger had a big day, going 2-3 with a walk and a homer, and scoring two of the Cubs three runs. He was easily the offense’s WPA leader on the day.
  3. Patrick Wisdom of all people contributed to multiple big plays on offense today. He quietly returned from his bout of David Patton Disease on Independence Day, and could get back into the mix if he has another hot streak.

Three down:

  1. Seiya got reverse-squeezed by the home plate ump in this one as his bizarre slump continues. At least he did manage to get *a* hit today.
  2. Wisdom was involved in the action in many ways, including pulling off the Ryan Theriot special by getting thrown out at third base on a grounder to short while trying to advance from second base. Always nice to get a reminder of the trope namer.
  3. To get all Jerry Seinfeld for a second, what’s the deal with all the ex-Cubs on the Yankees roster (dying laughing). Rizzo and Gleyber, sure, but it’s been weird seeing all sorts of ex-Cubs minor league randos pop up on major league rosters like Billy McKinney or DJ LeMaiheu*. Guys like Jay Jackson, Paul Blackburn, and Dylan Floro are appearing around the league.

    *Despite winning an MVP award, Josh Donaldson will always be just some rando in my heart of hearts, a throw-in as part of the Rich Harden trade that would never amount to much.

Next up:

Drew Smyly takes on Gerrit Cole at 12:05 CT, in what might be a slightly tougher matchup for this Cubs offense.

Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (33-38) at Pittsburgh Pirates (34-36)

The last one of these I had time to write was for the Cubs-Reds series…hopefully this one goes a little better for the Cubs.

As expected the Pirates have slid down the rankings after their hot start. Their overall team numbers are cromulent – position player WAR is about league average, starting pitching is just above average, and bullpen is a bit below. If you look over the past 30 days, however, all three have regressed to numbers closer to preseason expectations, though they haven’t really bottomed out in any aspect. Though I guess when the bar is the Royals/A’s/Cardinals (heh) it is a little lower.

Of note – The Pirates called up top prospect Henry Davis for this series. Davis went first overall in the 2021 draft and has been crushing it in AA/AAA this year, posting a .420-.430 wOBA at each stop.

Team Leaders

Switching to actual numbers on the year!

Pie-rats

  • OBP: Cutch (.379)
  • ISO: Jack Suwinski (.282)
  • HR: Suwinski (15)
  • R+RBI: Bryan Reynolds (78)
  • wRC+: Suwinski (133)
  • BSR: Ji Hwan Bae (2.2)
  • Defense: Austin Hendges (10.2)
  • SP K/9: Mitch Keller (10.57)
  • SP BB/9: Keller (2.54)
  • SP FIP: Keller (3.38)
  • RP K/9: Angel Perdomo (14.63)
  • RP BB/9: David Benar (0.35)
  • RP FIP: Perdomo (1.15)
  • WAR: Keller (1.9)

Cubs

  • OBP: Tauchman (.408)
  • ISO: Morel (.409)
  • HR: Wisdom (14)
  • R+RBI: Hoerner (72)
  • wRC+: Morel (174)
  • BSR: Hoerner (4.4)
  • Defense: Swanson (10.8)
  • SP K/9: Stroman (7.66)
  • SP BB/9: Cyle (1.91)
  • SP FIP: Steele (2.97)
  • RP K/9: Leiter (13.65)
  • RP BB/9: Alzolay (1.69)
  • RP FIP: Alzolay (2.59)
  • WAR: Swanson (2.6)

Who isn’t available?

Miguel Amaya was hit on the wrist by a pitch in Sunday’s game – X-rays showed no break so he is day to day. Patrick Wisdom is on the IL with a wrist sprain/David Patton disease. Brandon Hughes is out yet again with knee issues. Codi Heuer is throwing hard on his way back from TJS, but is still on an extended rehab assignment in the minors as he tries to regain his control. He has a 8+ ERA over just 11.1 innings in the minors. Brad Boxberger threw a bullpen in Arizona over the weekend, and may head on a rehab assignment soon.

Rob Zastryzny, one of the legion of forgettable former Cubs around the league (Paul Blackburn, Dylan Floro, and Jay Jackson are in the bigs somehow?), is on the IL with forearm inflammation and seems like he may be on the train to TJS town. Speaking of, Vince Velasquez had elbow surgery earlier this month and is done for the year. Ji-Man Choi is on the 60-day DL following an Achilles injury from April. He’s joined on the long term IL by Oneil Cruz, who broke his ankle back in April.

Pitching Matchups, Game Times

2023 K/9, BB/9, ERA, FIP listed for all starters

Monday: Drew Smyly, LHP (7.53, 2.43, 3.59, 4.33) vs Osvaldo Bido*, RHP (7.76, 4.65, 5.06, 5.08), 6:05 PM CT

*Projected numbers for Bido. His only appearance this year was his major league debut against the Cubs last week, where he walked three and struck out six, allowing one run over four innings.

Tuesday: Marcus Stroman, RHP (7.66, 3.24, 2.45, 3.43) vs Johan Oviedo, RHP (8.44, 4.16, 4.40, 3.80), 6:05 PM CT

Wednesday: Cyle Hendricks, RHP (5.08, 1.91, 3.18, 3.35) vs Rich Hill, RHP (8.38, 3.38, 4.31, 4.43), 11:35 PM CT

Hill has to be one of the contenders for the weirdest career in mlb history. I look forward to seeing him again at Wrigley. Hopefully the Cubs toss up a video montage of his involvement in the AJ Pierzynski incident (dying laughing).