This road trip concludes with a makeup game at Wrigley Field due to a rainout in June. A win today would give the Tribe a winning record at 6-5 on the trip. This will also be the last chance to see the Tribe pitchers flail in the batter's box. Today's victim will be Corey Kluber.
The Tribe took two of three from the Cubs earlier this year, winning the non-rained out game 6-0 at Wrigley as Trevor Bauer pitched seven dazzling innings. The two games at Progressive were split, with the Bears, er Cubs, putting up 17 runs and the Tribe getting just six baserunners total in a shutout loss, but bouncing back to win the finale as Giovanny Urshela singled in the winning run in the seventh.
- Monday 2:05 PM: Corey Kluber (R) vs. Jon Lester (L)
The Week Ahead:
After the traditional day game at Wrigley, the Tribe come home to take on their final NL Central foe, the Milwaukee Brewers for two, and then the Angels for three before packing their bags once more.
Team in a Box
Chicago Cubs |
Offense |
NL Rank |
Pitching |
NL Rank |
|||
2015 Record |
71-51 |
Runs/Game |
4.2 |
6th |
Runs/Game |
3.9 |
5th |
NL Central |
3rd |
OBP |
320 |
6th |
H/9 |
8.2 |
3rd |
Last 10 |
7-3 |
SLG |
394 |
8th |
BB/9 |
2.6 |
4th |
Last 30 |
21-9 |
Steals |
78 |
4th |
SO/9 |
8.7 |
1st |
The Cubs have been scorching hot in the past month with a stretch of winning fifteen of sixteen, and yet sit in third place in the NL Central behind the Cardinals and Pirates. They just finished sweeping the Braves in four games over the weekend.
Projected Roster
Pos |
Player |
Bats |
PA |
BA |
OPS |
wRC+ |
C |
Miguel Montero |
L |
300 |
239 |
774 |
113 |
1B |
Anthony Rizzo |
L |
531 |
291 |
940 |
157 |
2B |
Chris Coghlan |
L |
393 |
250 |
782 |
113 |
3B |
Kris Bryant |
R |
488 |
262 |
843 |
133 |
SS |
Addison Russell |
R |
396 |
249 |
701 |
93 |
LF |
Kyle Schwarber |
L |
157 |
284 |
957 |
160 |
CF |
Dexter Fowler |
S |
531 |
257 |
781 |
117 |
RF |
Jorge Soler |
R |
378 |
265 |
710 |
93 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OF |
Chris Denorfia |
R |
186 |
266 |
657 |
79 |
IF |
Starlin Castro |
R |
459 |
239 |
578 |
54 |
C |
David Ross |
R |
136 |
186 |
560 |
44 |
IF |
Jonathan Herrera |
S |
125 |
235 |
567 |
49 |
Russell has moved from second to short with Coghlan doing a platoon with Castro at second. Rookie sensation Schwarber has taken over in left and fellow rookie, Soler has taken over in right.
Schwarber absolutely gashed the Tribe pitching staff in June, going 6-10 with a triple and homer, scoring five times and driving in four. Russell also had a nice series with a 1053 OPS. Denorfia and Bryant both drove in four as well. Montero, Ross and Castro struggled with sub-500 OPS each.
Projected Staff
Player |
Throws |
ERA |
FIP |
IP |
WHIP |
K/9 |
Jon Lester |
L |
3.58 |
3.14 |
148.1 |
1.23 |
9.3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hector Rondon |
R |
1.59 |
2.49 |
56.2 |
0.99 |
8.7 |
Pedro Strop |
R |
29.1 |
3.37 |
55.2 |
0.99 |
10.3 |
Jason Motte |
R |
3.91 |
3.60 |
48.1 |
1.22 |
6.3 |
Justin Grimm |
R |
1.24 |
1.99 |
36.1 |
0.94 |
13.1 |
James Russell |
L |
4.45 |
3.34 |
32.1 |
1.36 |
5.6 |
Travis Wood |
L |
4.52 |
3.80 |
81.2 |
1.34 |
10.1 |
Clayton Richard |
L |
3.68 |
4.01 |
29.1 |
1.30 |
5.2 |
Tommy Hunter# |
R |
3.57 |
3.57 |
53.0 |
1.15 |
6.8 |
# includes stats with Orioles
Lester had a very good July and start to August, but was hammered by the Tigers last time out for seven runs in just 2.2 innings of work. He has been pretty unbeatable against Cleveland, posting a 7-1 record in 14 starts with a 3.23 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 9.1 K/9 in 86.1 innings.
The Tribe only scored 10 runs in the three games, with seven of them coming off starters Jake Arrieta and Jason Hammel. The only reliever currently on staff they scored upon was Wood.
On the Shelf
- P Jacob Turner [60 day DL], no timetable for return, on AA rehab
- P Neil Ramirez [15 day DL], no timetable for return
- RP Zac Rosscup [15 day DL], no timetable for return, on AA rehab
- RP Rafael Soriano [15 day DL], possible late August return
Almanac
W |
L |
Pct |
RS |
RA |
Pythag |
|
2015 |
2 |
1 |
667 |
10 |
20 |
333 |
2009 |
0 |
3 |
000 |
14 |
20 |
342 |
Last 5* |
0 |
0 |
- |
0 |
0 |
- |
Last 10* |
1 |
5 |
167 |
28 |
43 |
313 |
All-Time |
9 |
8 |
529 |
82 |
102 |
401 |
Prediction: With Kluber on the mound, I like our chances. But with a decent lefty on the mound in Lester, that evens it back to a coin flip. I say they win it with a 50.001% lean.