On The Horizon: Cubs vs. Guardians collection preview

The final time the Guardians performed at Wrigley Subject was virtually precisely two years in the past, June 30 and July 1-2, 2023.

The second sport of that collection had its begin delayed by rain for 2 hours, 45 minutes and it didn’t finish till virtually midnight. The third sport had its beginning time moved from 1:20 to 4:05 due to rain after which that sport was delayed till 6:00 — a complete of virtually seven and a half hours of rain delays. Cleveland received these two video games after the Cubs had taken the primary sport of the collection.

Happily, the forecast for the three video games this week is way, a lot higher — heat, however dry.

For extra on the Guardians, right here’s Quincy Wheeler, managing editor of our SB Nation Guardians web site Protecting The Nook.

Greetings, Cubs followers! When final we met, the Guardians have been taking part in nicely, on their method to an AL Central division title. Presently, the Guardians are taking part in fairly poorly, hanging round .500 and the third wild card spot within the American League. Listed here are some issues to observe for the Guardians:

Whereas the general numbers for the Guardians’ beginning rotation will not be nice, the group has pitched significantly better of late. It is best to see Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee and Luis Ortiz this collection, all of whom are able to placing up six good innings of two-run ball — or giving up 3-4 runs in a single inning and being fantastic exterior of that.

The Guardians hitters other than José Ramirez have been fairly horrific for an excellent month. Followers (and fanalysts like myself) are clamoring for the group to advertise prime prospect, Chase DeLauter, to play proper subject. He was in Iowa with the Triple-A group this previous week so it’s potential he would possibly get the decision to satisfy them in Chicago… however I doubt it. As an alternative, you’ll in all probability see Nolan Jones in proper subject. Joneshas turn into a singles hitter however has been higher of late, and Johnathan Rodriguez vs. LHP who would be the worst defensive proper fielder you’ve ever encountered. And I do know you’ve seen Kyle Schwarber in proper subject, in order that’s saying one thing.

Don’t pitch to Ramirez and your likelihood is good, proper now. Put the ball in play towards this protection proper now and our pitchers get flustered. Issues are very tough in Cleveland proper now, so, for us, we wish to see some new blood as much as play and see our guys present some combat. Hopefully we get a traditional sport or two as has normally been the case when our respective groups meet. Good luck to you all.

Enjoyable information

This might be simply the seventh regular-season collection through which the Cubs have hosted the Guardians since interleague play started in 1997. It is going to be solely the third collection consisting of three video games. The others all have been two video games, one in every of which had a postponement and needed to be made up two months later.

The Cubs swept the primary three-game collection, in 2009. They received the opener in 2023, then misplaced the subsequent two.

In all regular-season video games vs. the Guardians at Wrigley Subject, the Cubs are 8-8. At Cleveland, they’re 8-12. (Together with the 2016 World Sequence, the Cubs are 9-10 at Wrigley and 11-13 at Cleveland.)

The Cubs are 279-266 vs. all American League groups, a .514 profitable share. They’re .505 vs. Nationwide League groups since 1997 (9,477-9,302-1).

(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)

Possible pitching matchups

Tuesday: Matthew Boyd, LHP (7-3, 2.65 ERA, 1.102 WHIP, 3.55 FIP) vs. Gavin Williams, RHP (5-3, 3.68 ERA, 1.426 WHIP, 4.63 FIP)

Wednesday: Shōta Imanaga, LHP (4-2, 2.54 ERA, 1.027 WHIP, 4.32 FIP) vs. Tanner Bibee, RHP (4-8, 3.90 ERA, 1.183 WHIP, 4.43 FIP)

Thursday: Cade Horton, RHP (3-2, 4.80 ERA, 1.444 WHIP, 4.56 FIP) vs. Luis Ortiz, RHP (4-9, 4.36 ERA, 1.376 WHIP, 4.14 FIP)

Instances & TV channels

Tuesday: 7:05 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports activities Community, TBS (full nationwide broadcast, no blackouts). TBS announcers: Brian Anderson and Ron Darling.

Wednesday: 7:05 p.m. CT, ESPN (full nationwide broadcast, no blackouts)

Thursday: 7:05 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports activities Community

Prediction

I don’t see any cause the Cubs shouldn’t take two of three right here. Favorable pitching matchups and the Cubs don’t should face any lefthanded starters. Past that, Cleveland has misplaced 4 in a row, three by shutout. Maintain that going, Cubs pitchers.

Up subsequent

The Cubs host the Cardinals in a three-game collection at Wrigley Subject starting Friday afternoon.