2019 Gameday Thread

CHC (51-44): RHP Yu Darvish (2-4, 4.72 ERA)
CIN (43-49): RHP Sonny Gray (5-5, 3.42 ERA)
First pitch 1:20pmCDT

Yu Darvish and the Cubs go for the series win in an afternoon finale. Darvish went six scoreless against the Pirates on Friday and remains winless at Wrigley. Derek Dietrich is 4-9 off of him and has tagged him for two homeruns. Jose Iglesias and Nick Senzel are 3-6 and 3-7 respectively.

CHC (50-44): RHP Alec Mills (0-0, -.-- ERA)
CIN (43-48): RHP Anthony DeSclafani (5-4, 4.26 ERA)
First pitch 7:05pmCDT

Bad news first: The Cubs dropped the first game of the series in frustrating fashion (no hitting with RISP, fielding errors, bullpen inadequacy) and Willson is going to the IL with a foot injury. In the meantime, the Cubs are sending Mike Montgomery to KC in exchange for Martin Maldonado. Caratini seems likely to get plenty of at bats and the Cubs will have the option to use him more in the pinch if they keep Maldonado around after Contreras's IL stint ends.

CHC (50-43): RHP Kyle Hendricks (7-7, 3.49 ERA)
CIN (42-48): RHP Luis Castillo (8-3, 2.29 ERA)
First pitch 7:05pmCDT

Coming off a sweep of the Pirates, the Cubs work to lengthen a 2.5 game lead in the division and a 6.5 gap between themselves and the last place Reds. Kyle Hendricks will make his first post-break start. His last two starts, both following his IL stint for shoulder impingement, have been abbreviated (the first by rain). Last time he was doing fine until former Cubs Jon Jay and Eloy Jimenez teamed up for the old bloop and a blast. Hendricks is 1-0 in two starts against the Reds this year, allowing four earned runs in 14 innings. Votto is 10-24 off of him with three homeruns. Puig is 4-12 with one homer.

Welcome back from your well-deserved break. Starting Friday, the Cubs get back at the division battle with a three-game set against the Pirates. They'll try to leave behind a bit of a mid-season slump (one in which the entire division had been mired) and put some distance between themselves and their division rivals. See game-by-game matchups below.

The Cubs offense put up eleven runs, Quintana went seven innings for the win, Joe Maddon got himself tossed, and Robel Garcia was a double short of the cycle in first MLB start. Lucky for the Cubs, they won't need to top that performance to send fans to the All-Star break happy--a couple of wins would do! The Cubs split a two-game set at Wrigley with the Sox last month. Since their last matchup, the White Sox have not significantly improved. The Cubs, on the other hand, have had the 8th worst ERA- in those few weeks--just ahead of the White Sox at 9th. See the matchups below.

CHC (45-42): LHP Jose Quintana (5-7, 4.21 ERA)
PIT (42-43): RHP Jordan Lyles (5-4, 3.71 ERA)
First pitch 3:05pmCDT

If you are able to feel excited for baseball after last night's game, then either you are a better fan than I or you did not watch that 9th inning. Either way, kudos. Quintana takes the mound, following a good start against Cincinnati in which he pitched six scoreless innings. The start before that was an atrocious 9-run bashing. It's hard to know what to expect from Quintana lately, but it sure would be nice if he missed some more bats and avoided homeruns for a while. Quintana made his best start of the season against the Pirates back on April 11, pitching seven scoreless and striking out eleven. Current Pirates have a .660 OPS against him collectively. Josh "MVP?" Bell is 2-7 with a homerun. Corey Dickerson is 5-11 with a homerun.

CHC (45-41): RHP Yu Darvish (2-4, 4.98 ERA)
PIT (41-43): RHP Chris Archer (3-6, 5.50 ERA)
First pitch 6:05pmCDT

The third game of the set is a battle of shadows of former aces. Yu Darvish has spent all of 2019 trying to regain some modicum of control after missing most of 2018. Of late he's surrendered fewer walks but allowed too many homeruns. He gave up seven homeruns in five June starts, 29.1 innings pitched. Most recently he struck out eight while allowing five earned runs in five innings to Atlanta. He lost to Pittsburgh on April 10, allowing five runs, four earned in 5.1 innings pitched. Subtracting out Cervelli (6-10) and Chisenhall (2-10 with a homerun), current Pirates are 10-30 off of him with two homeruns and two walks. Corey Dickerson is 4-7 with one of those homeruns.

CHC (45-40): RHP Kyle Hendricks (7-5, 3.36 ERA)
PIT (40-43): RHP Joe Musgrove (6-7, 4.27 ERA)
First pitch 6:05pmCDT

Kyle Hendricks returns from his IL stint just in time to help the bullpen recover from yesterday's blowout loss. Hendrick's last start was probably his second worst of the season, and the news of his shoulder impingement followed hot on the heels of that loss to the Dodgers. Current Pirates are 35-147 against him with a collective .650 OPS. Polanco, 10-28 with two homeruns, is on the IL for this series. Joe Musgrove is 1-1 vs. the Prof.

CHC (45-39): RHP Adbert Alzolay (1-0, 2.08 ERA)
PIT (39-43): RHP Trevor Williams (2-2, 4.25 ERA)
First pitch 6:05pmCDT

The Cubs leave behind a contentious Cincinnati series and give us Alzolay's second MLB start as a distraction. The rookie right-hander was inefficient in his first start, allowing four walks to go with four strikeouts in only 4.1 innings of work. Still, the only run scored on a solo homerun by Acuna. Walks were never a big issue for Alzolay in the minors. The Pirates are a touch below average offensively, but they are 13th in the majors in wRC+ vs right-handers. Josh Bell, Bryan Reynolds, and Kevin Newman have been especially potent against righties. Cub killer Francisco Cervelli has been held to a .557 OPS against righties--but he's on the IL with a concussion.

The Cubs mustered a big comeback and debuted their new closer, Kimbrel, to end the first half of the season. Today, they open the second half with a weekend series against the last-place Cincinnati Reds. Although they bring up the rear of the NL Central, the Reds are hardly a bad club in 2019. They are only 6.5 games behind the Cubs and feature a pretty good pitching staff (fourth in the majors by ERA- at 82). There offense has not kept pace with their run prevention. The two teams last faced off in Chicago near the end of May, when the Reds took the series 2-1. Read past the break for day-by-day matchups and a little first-half questionnaire.