2021 Gameday Post

The Cubs will be working to break a 13-game home losing streak as they take on the Colorado Rockies. See below for the 3-game matchups.

The Cubs return home hot on two-game winning streak. They'll take on the AL Central trailers, the KC Royals, to start the homestand. See below for the matchups.

The Cubs have matched their season high for *checks notes* games lost in a row, at eleven. Next, they get to face the second place Reds, who trail the Brewers by 8 games and are fighting for a Wild Card spot. See below for the matchups in this three-game series.

The Cubs get a chance to bite a chunk out of the divisional leader a 4-game series. With key pieces of the future still in the minors (or otherwise unavailable), Cubs fans will have a chance to check out possible corner OF Greg Deichmann and young lefty Justin Steele in this series. The Brewers are mostly TBD with regard to their starters. So, see below for the best available info as the series begins.

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.

The depleted Chicago Cubs continue their season with a three-game series in Colorado. Can hot-hitting Raphael Ortega give the the B-squad the spark needed to take defeat the Rockies? See below for the mid-week pitching matchups.

This series begins after the trade deadline and will be a contest between one dismantled roster and one absurdly dismantled roster. Might this end up one of the least-watched series of 2021? See below for some sorrowful notes on players who have departed for more competitive climes and a lot of TBD in the daily matchups.

The Cubs have one last home series before the trade deadline. These four games might be fans' last look at any one of the trade targets still on the Cubs roster. See below for the projected matchups against the second-place Reds.

Just before kicking off the post-All Star portion of the season, the Cubs traded their starting left fielder for an advanced A-ball first base prospect. Pederson had not proven himself integral to what middling success the Cubs had managed so far this season, and the team could conceivably improve without him. However, the Cubs were rumored to be sellers going into the All-Star break and this move lends further support. They'll continue on, for now, with remaining core players like Javy, Rizzo, Bryant, and Contreras--but we'll be watching these games knowing any of those players could be making their last appearances in Cubs blue.

The current Cubs will be taking up bat and glove against D-Backs club with the worst record in the majors. Arizona enters the series second to last in the majors wRC+ and dead last in pitching WAR with a shocking 1.0 in fWAR--a team 5.48 ERA in the DH-less league will do that. Still, things won't necessarily be easygoing for the Cubs. See below for my best guess at pitching matchups. [Edit: my guesses were wrong.]

The Cubs finished their 10-game road trip by losing nine in a row, including sweeps to two teams that now lead them in the division, the Reds and the Brewers. Despite having the wind thoroughly taken out of their sails, they somehow return to home territory for seven games before the All Star break. They begin with a four-game series against the Phillies, the first time these two teams have matched up in 2021. See below for pitching matchups.