Series Preview: The Cubs are Back in Town

[Sherry Cerny]

The Cubs are competing in the NL Central, but have struggled recently, losing three of their last four series versus some of the worst teams teams (Washington, Miami, St. Louis) in the National League.

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

 

Thanks to the new MLB schedule, the Twins and Cubs will face off for the first time in two seasons. The Cubs and Twins have some of the best starting pitching in their leagues and both bullpens have been capable, too. The lineups for both sides will need to perform, especially with runners in scoring position.

Fun Fact: The Twins and Cubs have only met 37 times. September of 1997 was their first series ever. The Cubs have won 20 of those 37 games.

Weather Factor: There’s a chance of rain throughout the series, but hopefully it doesn’t put a damper on things and the series can go on without delay or postponement.

Pitching Probables
Game 1 – Thursday, May 12, 2023 – 7:10 pm CDT – The Twins Sonny Gray (4-0, 1.35 ERA) takes the mound for the series' first game facing the Cubs and their LHP Drew Smyly (3-1, 3.05 ERA). Gray is no stranger to the Cubs, having previously played with Cincinnati. In the 10 games he has pitched against them, he is 4-3 with a 3.13 ERA.

Southpaw Smyly has been effective in the pitching rotation, including pitching five innings or more in five of seven games this season. However, in his last game, he lasted only 3.1 innings, after needing 83 pitches to record 10 outs. Expect a Twins lineup to be stacked with right-handed bats to try and grab and grab an early leads and keep that pitch count high.

Game 2 – Friday, May 13, 2023 – 2:10 pm CDT - For the second game of the series, the Twins send Joe Ryan (5-1, 2.45 ERA) to face off against Cubs RHP Hayden Wesneski (2-1, 3.93 ERA). Wesneski's numbers do not show the effectiveness of this pitcher. The 25-year-old has a 1.28 WHIP, with 23:8 K:BB over 34.1 innings. But over his last three starts, he’s given up just three runs over 17 innings.

The Cub's offense will need to overcome Twins pitcher Ryan. Ryan has a 6:44 BB:K ratio and shown complete control of his strike zone. His first four starts he gave up a home run, but hasn’t surrendered one over his last three outings.

Game 3 - Saturday, May 14, 2023 – 2:10 pm CDT - The Cubs send their ace RHP Marcus Stroman (2-3, 2.28 ERA) to face off against Twins Rookie Louie Varland (0-0, 4.32 ERA). Stroman struggled  a bit last season after a shoulder injury and a bout with Covid, but the 32-year-old has put in the work and returned strong. His peripheral numbers aren’t as impressive as his ERA - over the past 47.1 innings, he has given 17 walks and has 44 strikeouts – but teams have only 33 hits against him.

This will be Minnesota Twins rookie pitcher Louie Varland's fourth game for the club and he is still in search of his first win. In his last outing against San Diego, he stayed in for six innings, only allowing one earned run and tallied six strikeouts, his best of the season thus far. Varland's biggest struggle has been giving up home runs, with four in 16.2 innings pitched. He’ll need to keep the ball in the ballpark.

Prediction Time!
What's your prediction for this series? Who will have the easiest time getting players home in scoring position? Will the Twin's starting pitching outlast the Cubs? Can the Twins hand the Cubs another series loss? Let us know in the comments! Go, Twins!

 

View full article

[Teflon]

The Twins righty lineup against Smyly (can his name be abbreviated with just an emoji?) features WIli Castro and Donovan Solano in for Max Kepler and Joey Gallo/Alex Kirilloff. Not the most scale-tipping platoon moves I've ever seen.