Cubs vs. White Sox: Series Thread (Games 111-113)
The Cubs return home to take on their south side neighbors, now joined by recent Cubs Craig Kimbrel and Ryan Tepera. The White Sox are enjoying a sizeable lead in the AL Central and have about two months to stay healthy and fine tune things for a playoff run. The Cubs on the other hand will be working through a roster of current journeymen and some potential future role players to see who might be useful when some prospects reinforce the roster (and who might be able to get themselves a major league offer this offseason). See below for the projected matchups.
Game 111, Friday, August 6, 1:20 pm central
CHC: RHP Kyle Hendricks (13-4, 3.71 ERA)
CHW: RHP Lance Lynn (10-3, 2.07 ERA)
Ws and Ls are no longer the primary concern for the Cubs as a whole in 2021, but they still count for Kyle Hendricks. How many wins can he collect on a losing team?
It would be an understatement to call Lance Lynn resurgent. He's hardly ever been this good before. The 34-year-old righty is throwing far fewer fastballs than during his time as a Cardinal and he's seen his strikeout rate climb to over a batter per inning.
Game 112, Saturday, August 7, 1:20 pm central
CHC: RHP Adbert Alzolay (4-11, 4.85 ERA)
CHW: LHP Carlos Rodon (8-5, 2.49 ERA)
Alzolay had a modestly encouraging start to the season. But with things not improving, that foundation to build on has looked less enticing. After being extremely stingy with walks in April and May, his walk rate since June has climbed to 3.88 per nine innings. It's by no means a high rate, but it pairs poorly with the high homerun rate that has dogged him all season.
As for Rodon, the former third overall pick is having a breakthrough season at the age of 28. He had a taste of success in 28 starts back in 2016, but middling results and poor health have gotten in his way since then. In 2021 he's enjoying his best season yet, and the timing looks just fine for the WSox.
Game 113, Sunday, August 8, 6:09 pm central
CHC: RHP Zach Davies (6-8, 4.79 ERA)
CHW: RHP Dylan Cease (8-6, 3.92 ERA)
Davies pitching in Colorado went about how you might expect it to. It was the third time that the righty gave up at least seven earned runs as a Cub.
Cease had a bizarre 2020 with the White Sox. He enjoyed a 4.01 ERA and 5-4 record despite having a strikeout to walk ratio approaching one-to-one and giving up 1.85 homeruns per nine innings. His 2021, however, has no such oddities. He's now striking out more than a batter per inning and should be working hard on staying healthy and fresh to make some playoff starts.
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