The Chicago Cubs are heading to the south side tonight to return the favor to the White Sox. Yu Darvish takes the mound for the Cubs, and they will face left-hander Dallas Keuchel. Hence an alignment that looks quite “against lefties.”
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
1. Kris Bryant, 1B
2. David Bote, 3B
3. Javy Baez, SS
4. Kyle Schwarber, DH
5. Steven Souza, LF
6. Jason Heyward, RF
7. Albert Almora, CF
8. Nico Hoerner, 2B
9. Victor Caratini, C
It can’t be presumed that an exhibition line is the plan for the season, but as it is what we have, I will notice a few things: Nico Hoerner has his second consecutive start in the second, and now he seems to be pretty stuck. against lefties, at least. I agree that Almora and Souza are there against a left-hander, although I hope Jason Heyward has a few days off against left-handers – she has fought powerfully against them in her career, and especially in the past few years. On a normal Darvish day against a southpaw, I wonder if Willson Contreras would start at DH over Schwarber. I have no problem with Schwarber taking on lefties, but there is no point in taking Contreras’ bats against a left-hander during the regular season.
We’ll have a full Pre-Gamin ‘post closer to game time (7:05 CT).
