After another rough night for Patrick Wisdom, I had a feeling he could get tonight off and that’s exactly what happened. Here’s the Cubs lineup for Game 2 in Colorado.
Lineup of the Chicago Cubs:
1. Rafael Ortega, RF
2. Nick Madrigal, 2B
3. Willson Contreras, C
4. Ian Happ, LF
5. Frank Schwindel, DH
6.Jonathan Villar, 3B
7. Jason Heyward, CF
8. Alfonso Rivas, 1B
9. Nico Hoerner, SS
But it’s not just about Wisdom’s rocky start last night/this season. It’s also about opposing starter Germán Márquez, who boasts quite notable right-left splits for his career:
German Marquez Splits:
against LHH: .273/.331/.431; 19.8K%
against RHH: .233/.287/.409; 27.9K%
It also doesn’t hurt that Wisdom’s replacement at third base, Jonathan Villar, had a nice night on the plate last night (2-4, 2B) and is 5-12 with two doubles and a walk against Marquez.
Additionally, Rafael Ortega is back at the top of the Cubs lineup, which is nice to see. I know there are some calls for a little more Clint Frazier (just, like…generally), but the parade of the left lately makes that pretty easy to pull off.
4/10 – RHP (but Frazier started)
4/11 – day of rest
4/12 – LHP (Frazier launched)
4/13 – RHP
4/14 – LHP (Frazier Starter)
4/15 – RHP
4/16—RHP
4/17 – LHP (Frazier likely to launch)
That’s four starts over the course of seven games. I have no problem moving him to action and setting him up for success.
Note that Ortega is in the right field tonight and Seiya Suzuki is giving a break. That opens up DH spot for Frank Schwindel, who hit his first homer of the season last night, and first base for left Alfonso Rivas. Overall this is a pretty solid group. My only problem is continuing to beat Nick Madrigal in two holes (a questionable decision on a normal night, but especially against a guy who’s harder on right-handers). But I guess David Ross just wants as many balls in play at Coors Field as possible.
As usual, we’ll have your full pre-gamin’ contribution closer to game time (7:40 CT).