Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (8-7) at Cincinnati Reds (8-8)

In Series Previews by berselius

It’s been an eventful week in Cincinnati, which nearly reached Peak Reds before being eclipsed by whatever shit the Royals have been doing. Reds manager Bryan Price dropped a 77 f-bomb tirade at one of the Reds beat writers for actually reporting on the team instead of shilling/spreading false information for the team. I only regret that this wasn’t followed by Marty Brennaman chiming in full support of Price, clamoring for the good old days, with a shot at Joey Votto thrown in for good measure.

Team Leaders

Numbers listed are from the current fangraphs depth charted projections

Cubs

  • WAR: Rizzo (4.3), Bryant (3.8), Lester (3.5)
  • OBP: Rizzo (.365), Fowler (.358), Bryant (.344)
  • SLG: Bryant (.501), Rizzo (.496), Soler (.464)
  • Defense: Rizzo (6.7)
  • SP K/9: Arrieta (8.7)
  • SP BB/9: Hendricks (2.1)
  • RP K/9: Rosscup (11.1)
  • RP BB/9: Motte (2.7)

Reds

  • WAR: Votto (4.4), Cueto (3.3), Frazier (2.8)
  • OBP: Votto (.419), Frazier (.320), Mesoraco (.320)
  • SLG: Votto (.492), Bruce (.448), Frazier (.447)
  • Defense: Hamilton (7.5)
  • SP K/9: Cueto (8.6)
  • SP BB/9: Leake (2.2)
  • RP K/9: Chapman (infinity)
  • RP BB/9: Badenhop (2.3)

News, notes, vengeance pacts, etc.

The Cubs miss Johnny Cueto again in this series, though the statute of limitations on his beef with the Cubs has long expired, as well as everyone else involved in that mess (DeJesus, Garza, Baker).

Javy Baez is heading to extended spring training soon, following a leave of absence after the death of his younger sister. He’ll head to AAA after shaking some rust off and will probably play a lot of SS now that Russell is up with the big league club.

In bullpen rearmament news, Justin Grimm has been throwing in Arizona, though it sounds like he’s probably still a few weeks away. Wada’s been starting in Iowa, and because he’s on a major league deal he can’t stay there for too long. Not much going on with Ramirez, it will probably be a while until we see him again.

Marlon Byrd homered yesterday, but going into the game he was 6-52 with 16 strikeouts and no walks. Sounds familiar,

Pitching matchups

ZiPS projected K/9, BB/9, ERA listed for each pitcher

Friday: Jon Lester, LHP (8.04, 2.28, 3.17) vs Mike Leake, RHP (6.32, 2.17, 4.08), 6:10 PM CT

Not too much longer before we can stop saying that Lester’s still knocking the rust off. Mike Leake leads MLB in stolen t-shirts.

Saturday: Jake Arrieta, RHP (8.56, 3.37, 3.59) vs Anthony DeSclafani, RHP (7.05, 2.56, 4.39), 12:10 PM CT

Arrieta has looked sharp so far this year, which has been really nice to see. My biggest worry with this Cubs team was a decline in the pitching staff’s numbers from last year, especially Arrieta and Hendricks (I expected Hammel to kinda suck). So far no worries on Arrieta, beyond the blanket worry for anyone who throws baseballs beyond anything human bodies were designed for.

I kind of made fun of DeSclafani’s promotion to the rotation the last time around, and he put clown shoes on the Cubs hitters. So I’ll shut up this time, and hope for a different result.

Sunday: Travis Wood, LHP (7.29, 3.48, 4.36) vs Jason Marquis, LOL (6.77, 3.48, 5.15), 12:10 PM CT

Expect a long, long game with these two guys squaring off in CBP. I feel pretty confident in predicting that Kris Bryant will no longer be homerless by the end of this series.

 

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