Giants @ Cubs, 8/21

The Giants tagged Yu with four earned runs in six innings just last month in San Francisco, but that has been his worst start since July 1st. Since then, he’s posted a 2.77 ERA in eight starts (48.2 IP) with a 63:2 strikeouts to walk ratio (31.5). That’s not a typo: Yu Darvish has walked just two batters in his last eight starts. The last batter he walked was Mike Yastrzemski in the 4th inning of the Giants-Cubs game on 7/23.

So, let’s just get this over with. Maybe the Giants will win tonight, maybe they will win tomorrow, or maybe they’ll get swept, but in any case, Wrigley Field has been a nightmarish hellscape from which the only escape has been the schedule.

CF — Jason Heyward
RF — Nicholas Castellanos
3B — Kris Bryant
1B — Anthony Rizzo
SS — Javier Baez
LF — Kyle Schwarber
2B — Ian Happ
C — Victor Caratini
SP — Yu Darvish

After last night’s game, Nicholas Castellanos had this to say:

I think I figured out where this is coming from: this is what he learned from doing cognitive behavioral therapy (where my CBT heads at?) while being stuck on the Tigers. Think of it: the only way to get through being a member of the Tigers these days is cognitive dissonance and a reliance on abstractions. Or, just a lot of denial and compartmentalization. Clean slating every second of existence while wearing a Tigers uniform is the only psychologically healthy thing he could do.

RF — Mike Yastrzemski
2B — Scooter Gennett
3B — Evan Longoria
LF — Alex Dickerson
C — Stephen Vogt
CF — Kevin Pillar
1B — Brandon Belt
SS — Brandon Crawford
SP — Dereck Rodriguez

We’ll see if Alex Dickerson’s oblique is up to the challenge and if he’s been able to work out his timing so that he’s not way out in front of every offspeed pitch.