Well, that weekend series sucked. Hopefully the Cubs actually hit a few with runners in scoring position this time around. Since we last saw the Brewers a week ago they reeled off four straight wins against the Jays and Reds before losing a late lead in their attempt to make it five in a row.
Team Leaders (projected)
Cubs
- OBP: Anthony Rizzo (.382)
- SLG: Rizzo (.529)
- HR: Rizzo / Kris Bryant (33)
- R+RBI: Bryant (213)
- wOBA: Rizzo (.385)
- BSR: Javier Baez (1.3)
- SP K/9: Jake Arrieta (8.95)
- SP BB/9: Kyle Hendricks (2.03)
- SP FIP: Jon Lester (3.34)
- RP K/9: Wade Davis (12.51)
- RP BB/9: Hector Rondon (2.03)
- RP FIP: Davis (2.71)
- WAR: Bryant (5.8)
Beers
- OBP: Ryan Braun (.343)
- SLG: Eric Thames (.493)
- HR: Thames (26)
- R+RBI: Braun (159)
- wOBA: Braun (.347)
- BSR: Jonathan VIllar (3.8)
- SP K/9: Junior Guerra (8.20)
- SP BB/9: Tommy Milone (2.46)
- SP FIP: Zach Davies (3.91)
- RP K/9: Corey Knebel (11.28)
- RP BB/9: Blaine Boyer (2.47)
- RP FIP: Jacob Barnes (3.46)
- WAR: Davies (2.8)
Pitching matchups
K/9, BB/9, projected ERA listed for each starter.
Monday: Chase Anderson, RHP (7.39, 2.99, 4.66) vs John Lackey, RHP (8.14, 2.46, 3.54), 7:05 PM CT
Anderson is filling in for Garza and is more or less a junkballing righty. He had a pretty good changeup wihen he was with the Dbacks but did not seem to bring it with him in 2016. He faced the Cubs twice as a starter last year with good to great results, including a near complete game last may. He's made the most of his time in the rotation this year, giving up just one run in thirteen innings so far.
Lackey has gotten off to poor starts in each of his, uh, starts this year but righted the ship in each to put together a decent outing. He threw somewhere around 512 pitches in the first inning of his last start but ended up with ten strikeouts in six innings. Oddly enough of all of the Cusb starters he's the guy I feel least uncomfortable with on the mound right now, as strange as that may seem.
Tuesday: Jimmy Nelson, RHP (7.70, 3.31, 4.35) vs Brett Anderson, RHP (6.11, 2.79, 4.35), 7:05 PM CT
The Brewers are usually my go to when I feel like putting some baseball on in evenings where the Cubs have played a day game. I still have some residual fondness for the pre-Braun years during my time in Wisconsin, which I tend to think of the Keith Ginter era rather than the young Fielder/Weeks era. The Brewers had really cornered the market on quad A utility guys at the time. Anyway, I caught a few innings of Nelson's start against the Reds and the broadcast booth was raving about Nelson's stuff. It didn't look as good in the box score – five strikeouts and one run in seven innings – but what was most important was that he didn't walk anyone. Walks were a big part of his sophomore slump, but he seems to have better control this year. He struck out eight with one run and one walk in six innings against the Cubs in the opening week of the season.
Anderson didn't give up any runs in his last start, but it wasn't for lack of trying. He can't count on Almora to keep making sensational plays behind him.
Wednesday: Tommy Milone, LOL (6.94, 2.36, 4.79) vs Kyle Hendricks, RHP (7.78, 2.05, 3.34), 1:20 PM CT
Milone lasted one inning longer against the Reds than he did the Cubs, but is the very definition of stopgap starter. Hopefully the Cubs rough him up again.
Hendricks hasn't looked like his normal self so far, especially on the radar gun. His rate stat peripherals are okay but he's given up two home runs in as many starts, which throw a lot of his numbers out of whack.
Comments
All is lost:
http://www.espn.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/43741/should-bullpen-be-a-concern-for-cubs
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I’ll be at the Wednesday game. First game for my daughter.
MylesQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
538 still has the Cubs projected for 96 wins. The mighty Pirates? 80 wins.
At this point, I’m not concerned, but I’ve been wondering when the doom and gloom sports writing would start.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
I’d rather they get their scuffles out of the way early and fire on all cylinders by May. Still plenty of season left and it’s not like the Mighty Reds are running away with the division at the moment.
Rice in limboQuote Reply
Rice in limbo,
Yeah, I’m not worried at this point. They had a 5-15 stretch last year before the ASB, and they still ran away with the division. Their true talent level is still well above the rest of the division and probably everyone in the NL other than the Dodgers. Shit will sort itself out.
That said, it would be really swell not to see Brian Duensing trotted out there to face RHH, and it would be nice to see the offense start hitting with RISP.
PerkinsQuote Reply
javy baez is projected to lead the team in BSR with a score of 1.3???? is this team really that shitty on the basepaths? i do not recall this being even remotely problematic last year…
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
I’m not sure that’s bad. I don’t think they’re a great base running team, but they aren’t bad either. It’s difficult to accumulate high base running totals when put in runs.
dmick89Quote Reply
Villar is a lot better than the Cubs best baserunner, but it’s only 2 runs better. It’s not that big of a deal. The biggest thing on the bases is to just not make outs.
dmick89Quote Reply
Speaking of the Reds, Bronson Arroyo’s ZiPS projection is hilarious: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=978&position=P
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
CJ is back. Now La Stella is on the bereavement list.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
game thread up: http://obstructedview.net/brewers-cubs-game-thread-4-17-17/
dmick89Quote Reply