Jon Lester was a late scratch due to illness, so it’s Tyler Chatwood getting the start for the Cubs today. All he’s done against the Giants for his career is go 7-4 with a 3.04 ERA. One of his 17 career starts against them was a complete game shutout back in April 2017.
I had a vague thought that Chatwood’s been a thorn in the Giants’ side, but since that shutout (9 IP 2 H 4 K 1 BB), he’s been a little bit below average against them: 5 starts, 23.2 IP, 4.66 ERA, 17 strikeouts, 17 walks. His change from the Rockies to the Cubs really did something, though. He had a 106 ERA+ in 130 games for Colorado and the Angels, and just an 85 ERA+ in 45 games for the Cubs these past two seasons.
All-Star catcher Willson Contreras returns from the injured list, too, and that would seem to be another problem for the Giants, assuming Chatwood is able to return to his career norm of dominating them.
Contreras has a .947 OPS this season, but a .408 OPS in 54 career plate appearances against the Giants (17 strikeouts to 5 walks). Still, he’s another quality bat in a lineup that’s already filled with quality bats.
LF — Kyle Schwarber
SS — Javier Baez
3B — Kris Bryant
1B — Anthony Rizzo
C — Willson Contreras
RF — Jason Heyward
2B — Robel Garcia
CF — Albert Almora Jr.
SP — Tyler Chatwood
Meanwhile, Pablo Sandoval looked absolutely gassed at the end of last night’s game — at least, before the walk-off — and had Lester been able to make today’s start we might’ve seen Zach Green at third, but instead there he is again right back where he was.
Sandoval grounded into two double plays last night — Chatwood has a 53% groundball rate...
1B — Brandon Belt
RF — Austin Slater
3B — Pablo Sandoval
C — Stephen Vogt
SS — Brandon Crawford
LF — Mike Yastrzemski
CF — Kevin Pillar
2B — Donovan Solano
SP — Tyler Beede