Bleed Cubbie Blue

Cubs vs. Marlins Game 2 postponed, will be played Friday

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 17:20:00 GMT

Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

There’s a forecast of rain, so MLB didn’t want to take any chances.

About 30 minutes ago, Jesse Rogers and other writers sent out this tweet. Rogers was one of the broadcasters scheduled to call the game:

The Cubs/Marlins game has been postponed. Game 2 now Friday at 1 CT. Game 3 on Sat, if needed, TBA
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) October 1, 2020

Major League Baseball officially sent out a press release postponing the game due to “forecasted inclement conditions.”

This gives everyone a day of rest in what was going to be a postseason with very few off days. Yu Darvish will be starting Friday on six days’ rest instead of five, and if there’s a Game 3 it would be the only game played on Saturday.

If the Cubs vs. Marlins game is the only one scheduled Friday, it will instead be played at 6:08 p.m. CT. MLB says the time is “to be determined” for Saturday’s game, but as it would almost certainly be the only game played Saturday if we get that far, I’d think it would also wind up in an evening time slot.

Perhaps the extra day can get Cubs bats rolling.

Cubs vs. Marlins Thursday 10/1 rainout threads

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 16:01:00 GMT

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

If you seek Thursday’s game threads, look no further.

Chicago Cubs vs. Miami Marlins Wild Card Series Game 2 preview, Thursday 10/1, 1:08 CT

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 16:00:00 GMT

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

It’s win or go home.

Hey, guess what? There’s a chance of rain again today, and this time it looks like there might be enough for some delays in this game.

So, here’s the Chicago-area radar for you to keep handy during this afternoon’s contest:

Game 2 notes:

HERE, MAYBE THIS WILL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER: The Twins, eliminated Wednesday, have now lost 18 straight postseason games. The Cubs have won 19 postseason games since the Twins last won one. Hopefully, that becomes 20 today.
ELIMINATION GAME HISTORY: The Cubs own an 11-17 all-time record in postseason elimination games, including Wild Card games in 2015 (a win at Pittsburgh) and 2018 (a loss at home vs. Colorado). In games in which only the Cubs are facing elimination, the team is 7-13. However! The Cubs are looking in this series to win consecutive elimination games for just the second time in franchise history. As you likely recall, the first time took place in the 2016 World Series when the Cubs wiped out a three-games-to-one deficit to defeat Cleveland. (H/T: Ed Hartig)
ABOUT YU:Yu Darvish walked just 14 on the season, striking out 93, good for an average of 11.01 strikeouts per nine innings ... he limited opponents to a .253 on-base percentage and .575 OPS, both fourth-best among N.L. hurlers. More on Darvish below.
HAPP-ENSTANCE: In Game 1, Ian Happ became just the second switch-hitter in franchise history to homer in a postseason game, joining Dexter Fowler, who hit five homers spanning the 2015-16 postseasons.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

We turn to Yu for Game 2. #FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/EUzEXCFIrc
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) October 1, 2020

Marlins lineup:

The #Marlins lineup. Sierra in center pic.twitter.com/bfVBAHeO1B
— Joe Frisaro (@JoeFrisaro) October 1, 2020

Yu Darvish, RHP vs. Sixto Sanchez, RHP

Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

The last two postseason games Yu Darvish threw were in the 2017 World Series, and we all know now that his opponent, the Astros, were cheating.

The postseason game Darvish threw before that, though, was in Wrigley Field, Game 3 of the 2017 NLCS, in which Darvish utterly baffled Cubs hitters. He threw 6⅓ innings and allowed six hits and one run, striking out seven. That’s the Darvish we have come to know from the second half of 2019 through now.

Darvish’s first Cubs start was against the Marlins, March 31, 2018, and it did not go well. But as we know now, Darvish was likely injured even then, and most of the Marlins from that game aren’t on the team anymore.

Current members of the Marlins are 13-for-61 (.213) against Darvish with 16 strikeouts.

Sixto Sanchez is another in the Marlins’ group of hard-throwing young righthanders. Just 21, he was acquired by the Marlins last year in the J.T. Realmuto trade. A native of the Dominican Republic, Sanchez has made seven major-league starts, all this year, most with pretty good results, although the last two weren’t (seven total innings, 11.57 ERA, 2.571 WHIP, .375 opponents BA).

He has obviously never faced the Cubs or anyone on the Cubs roster. Per Fangraphs he relies mostly on his fastball (averaging over 97 miles per hour!) and an 89 mile per hour changeup. This will not be easy today.

Today’s game is on ABC-7 Chicago (and other ABC affiliates nationwide). Announcers: Jon Sciambi, Chipper Jones and Jesse Rogers.

Radio broadcasts:670 The Score, Sirius XM radio (click for channel), Cubs radio affiliates

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Marlins site Fish Stripes. If you do go there to interact with Marlins fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

There will be two other games going on late this morning and early afternoon while the Cubs and Marlins are playing. Two more games will happen this evening (Cardinals/Padres at 6 p.m. CT and Brewers/Dodgers at 9 p.m. CT). I’ll have a separate game thread for those which will post at 6 p.m. CT, a few minutes before the 6:08 CT first pitch in San Diego, and of course there will be a Cubs game recap shortly after the game ends. Here’s all the info you’ll need for the afternoon games:

Reds at Braves, 11 a.m. CT

Luis Castillo, RHP vs. Ian Anderson, RHP

TV: ESPN. Announcers: Matt Vasgersian, Alex Rodriguez and Buster Olney

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

White Sox at Athletics, 2 p.m. CT

Dane Dunning, RHP vs. Mike Fiers, RHP

TV: ESPN. Announcers: Dave Flemming and Jessica Mendoza

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

The 2020 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used in previous years. Here’s how it works.

You’ll find the game preview posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every thread related to that particular game, including the First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads, as well as the recap when it’s published. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads in the box marked “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at one hour, two hours and 2:45 after the scheduled game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

2020 Cubs Heroes and Goats postseason: Wild Card Series Game 1

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 15:15:00 GMT

David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Same old story: Bats go silent in 5-1 loss

Sometimes this feels like the proverbial broken record. This makes at least three straight years now where the Cubs are pushed to the brink of a premature end of their season because their offense is missing in action. Sure, it happens to teams in the postseason. The Reds and Braves had 12 scoreless innings before the Braves eventually walked that game off in the 13th inning. But, that game was started by Trevor Bauer, a leading Cy Young contender. As frustrating as it would be to see that high-powered Braves offense get stifled like that, A) they won and B) it makes sense, not to mention C) they’ll probably put a crooked number or two on the board today.

There have been very few players that have come through the Cubs system in the last half dozen years that I haven’t warmly embraced. Even down to some of the quirky end of the bench and cameo guys, we cheered them. We enjoyed their story. We were sorry to see a lot of them go when they did ultimately go. If Theo Epstein has one weakness that I’ve seen, it is his stubborn refusal to move on and change things. An argument can be that the Joe Maddon era dragged on about a season too long. Certainly an argument can be made that this core has been kept together too long.

Of course, I also trumpet the successes of this loyalty in this spot. Jason Heyward woefully underperformed the substantial free agent contract he signed here before the 2016 from the start. But he worked hard and became one of the only two regularly potent bats in the lineup this year. Yu Darvish is another signing that looked bad at the start. He spent most of his first year injured and then struggled in his second. But since then he’s developed into another contender for the Cy Young this season. Craig Kimbrel appears to be another signing that got off to a horrendous start, but it looks like he might have turned things around.

Loyalty is a commendable trait. Stubbornness is not. Of course, it isn’t always easy to see where one stops and the other starts. It feels all too soon to be writing a post mortem article. Hopefully, Yu will step up and the offense will provide him some support. The Cubs should be able to handle this Marlins team. Failure to do so would be just that. Failure. It’s baseball. In short series, anything can happen. But, this Marlins team should have been the best possible matchup for the Cubs. Their two best starters available to start the two games. Both of them right-handed against a team that struggles with right-handed starters. But even in that equation, there needs to be offense.

The core of this team Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Javier Baez have to varying degrees been completely impotent this season at the plate. Big games usually need big performances from big players. This team prioritized offensive weapons when it was being built. The offense shouldn’t have been the weakness. But it is and so here we are. Hopefully, they get things turned around in a big hurry.

And with that, we turn our attention to yesterday’s game as we look at what WPA had to say about Heroes and Goats. As always the Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA (Win Probability Added) and are not in any way subjective. Many days WPA will not tell the story of what happened, but often it can give at least a glimpse to who rose to the occasion in a high leverage moment or who didn’t get the job done in that moment. With that, let’s get to the results.

Game 1, September 30: Marlins 5, Cubs 1 (0-1)

Source: FanGraphs

THREE HEROES:

Superhero: Ian Happ (.144). It comes as no surprise that Ian was the Cubs top performer. He was for most of the regular season, leading the team in OPS despite a rough September. He had two hits, including a homer to produce the lone run.
Hero: Kyle Schwarber (.063). Kyle had two walks before being pulled for a defensive replacement.
Sidekick: Andrew Chafin (.007). Retired the only batter he faced.

THREE GOATS:

Billy Goat: Jeremy Jeffress (-.130). Jeffress is one of those guys who doesn’t have a huge margin of error. He was very successful through most of the regular season, but many had pointed out that it was more and more of a tightrope walk as the season wore along. He allowed three hits in five batters faced, including a two-run homer that buried the game.
Goat: Kyle Hendricks (-.121). David Ross got greedy. He was really praying he could steal one more inning out of one of his two aces. He put him out there for the seventh. I would have looked at that inning as “first hit, you are done.” Instead, Ross allowed Hendricks to allow fairly solid singles to the eighth and ninth hitters in the Marlins lineup, then face the top of the order again. It was at least one batter too far. He allowed a three-run homer and with the ineffectiveness of the offense, that spelled doom.
Kid: Jason Heyward (-.099). JHey was hitless in four at bats, striking out once.

WPA Play of the Game: Corey Dickerson’s three-run homer off Hendricks snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. (.414)

*Cubs Play of the Game: Ian Happ homered with two outs in the fifth to provide the Cubs their only run of the game and the first lead of the series. (.154)

Up Next: Yu Darvish and the Cubs are the second largest favorite of the day (Dodgers/Kershaw over Brewers). Sixto Sanchez will go for the Marlins. It’s do or die for the Cubs.

Cubs Wild Card Series Game 2 lineup: David Bote gets a start

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 14:45:00 GMT

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Perhaps that will help.

Manager David Ross has made a couple of changes in the lineup for Thursday’s Game 2 against the Marlins:

We turn to Yu for Game 2. #FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/EUzEXCFIrc
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) October 1, 2020

Victor Caratini, of course, is Yu Darvish’s personal catcher, so Willson Contreras heads to the DH role for today.

David Bote replaces Jason Kipnis at second base. Kipnis has quite a bit of postseason experience, obviously, from his time in Cleveland, but Ross clearly would like to get another bat in the lineup. Bote went 0-for-2 in the 2018 Wild Card Game against the Rockies, his only postseason experience. He hit .200/.303/.408 with seven home runs and that slugging percentage is decent.

It’s win or go home for the Cubs this afternoon, so hopefully Bote and the rest of the bats will get going. The game preview for this afternoon will post at 11 a.m. CT.

SB Nation Reacts: Who’s the team to beat in MLB’s postseason?

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 14:30:00 GMT

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

The answer is in the photo, but there’s more!

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Each week, we send out questions to the most plugged in Cubs fans, and fans across the country. Sign up here to join Reacts.

Major League Baseball has had two Wild Card Series days, with three teams already heading on to the Division Series. It has definitely looked and sounded different from a “normal” postseason, but teams are now playing for the chance at a World Series.

For fans, not all playoff teams quite look the same. According to the most recent SB Nation Reacts survey, there is a clear difference between the teams that have a real chance at winning it all and those that aren’t expected to see the LDS.

There is one team that couldn’t have higher expectations. More than three-quarters of fans surveyed think the Los Angeles Dodgers are the team to beat in baseball entering the playoffs.

On the other end of the spectrum is the Chicago Cubs. Despite winning the NL Central, fans across the country think the Cubs are the division winner most likely to lose in the Wild Card round. (They did nothing Wednesday to disabuse anyone of that notion.)

The Twins have already fulfilled this destiny:

For Cubs fans specifically, the feelings are clearly mixed. Only 58 percent of fans that responded said they are confident in the direction of the team.

However, nearly three-quarters of Cubs fans think the team can realistically win the World Series this season.

To vote in the Reacts surveys and have your voice heard each week, sign up here.

Cubs postseason leaderboard update

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 14:00:00 GMT

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

The game wasn’t pretty, but a few Cubs moved up the lists.

You would think in a 5-1 Cubs loss to the Marlins in Game 1, with the run on a solo blast by a player with only one postseason hit, that nothing much would have changed on the lists. The tops on the hitters' side were largely unchanged, but the pitching side bristled with energy. These are the Cubs postseason leaders updates.

By taking the mound and making a pitch, Kyle Hendricks became the team's all-time leading starting pitcher, with 11. Jon Lester hopes for a chance at a tie on Friday. Hendricks also moved from a tie for fourth to a tie for second in innings pitched in a postseason career. He's tied with Mordecai Brown with 57⅔ innings. Hendricks expanded his strikeout total to 51, still seven short of Lester in second.

Though the offensive ledger was quiet, a few players did move up. Kyle Schwarber‘s two walks nudged me to include walks on my homework sheet.

Kris Bryant 13
Sammy Sosa 13
Willson Contreras 12
Anthony Rizzo 12
Kyle Schwarber 12

Contreras' hit-by-pitch puts him in a tie for sixth place with one. He's also in a tie for 10th with three doubles. Contreras is also now eighth in at-bats with 78, passing Jimmy Sheckard with 77. Frank Schulte also has 78. And, Willson ranks ninth with 90 plate appearances, behind Schulte's 91. Sheckard has 94.

Jason Heyward tied Dexter Fowler for seventh with 26 games, and figures to tie Ben Zobrist for sixth with 27 in Game 2. Contreras is in fifth with 29, behind Addison Russell in fourth with 31. While this is much more amusing with more offense, Happ is posing himself for a move up a few categories with more opportunities and success. Yu Darvish has a chance to position himself halfway up the 21 that would get him on the strikeout list. Also, a win in Game 2 would give the rest of the gang at least one more game to accumulate numbers.

The view of Cubs/Marlins game 1 from a Wrigley rooftop

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 13:00:00 GMT

Al Yellon

It was different, to be sure.

As I mentioned in Wednesday’s game preview, I was invited to watch Game 1 from the Wrigley View rooftop located at 1050 W. Waveland, right next to the Engine Co. 78 firehouse. This rooftop club is an independent club not one of the 11 owned by the Ricketts family.

Thought I’d tell you a bit about my experience Wednesday afternoon, which of course would have been better had the Cubs won.

The club opened about an hour before game time. Everyone entered from the rear of the building and was greeted by these signs:

Al Yellon

Temperature checks were taken, as noted, and masks were required.

The overall view of the field is what you see at the top of this post. The view is remarkably good, considering you’re past the left-field corner. The height is about halfway between the last row of the terrace sections (I had a great view of the back of section 203) and the upper deck, but because it’s in the corner, you can see the infield almost unobstructed. There’s a small area behind second base that’s obstructed by the left-field bleacher elevator, and you can’t see about half of left field, but the rest of the field is easy to see. Here’s another overview of the field:

Al Yellon

I wound up maybe 100-150 feet from where I’d have been sitting for the game if there had been any fans allowed:

Al Yellon

The club is on three levels. There are both stairs and an elevator, though the elevator only takes you to the bottom of the seating area, which you enter here:

Al Yellon

To get to the area where they serve food, you have to walk up those stairs. Food included Buona Italian beef, Italian sausages, hot dogs, chips and cookies, as well as a selection of beers. This is the area where the sandwiches are served:

Al Yellon

There are two other areas in this club where you can eat/drink. This one is one floor below the seating area:

Al Yellon

This one is directly underneath the seating area, which turned out to be handy during the two annoying little rainshowers that cropped up during the game:

Al Yellon

TV coverage seems maybe 30 seconds or so behind live action. It was odd to hear a PA announcement of the next batter — the PA could be heard pretty clearly — while the previous batter’s at-bat was still being shown on TV.

As far as the view of the game is concerned, it was actually pretty good. You can’t see the left-field video board (I’m used to that!) or the center-field scoreboard at all, but the right-field video board is easy to see:

Al Yellon

Here, the players line up for introductions... to the empty ballpark:

Al Yellon

This is the first pitch thrown by Kyle Hendricks:

Al Yellon

Here’s a brief video overview of the scene from where I was sitting.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.

The Cubs have added some statistical information to the right-field video board. While an inning is in progress, they show the plays that have occurred in that inning next to each batter’s name, and at the bottom, every ball that’s hit (even foul balls!) gets an exit velocity, launch angle and distance:

Al Yellon

One thing that’s been removed from that board is the pitch count. That would be visible on the left-field ribbon board if I had been inside the ballpark, though.

About the game itself, it was fairly easy to watch the action even with the partial obstructions. I did keep score — that’s my thing! — and was glad it felt normal to do it, even after six-plus months from the last time I had done so at Spring Training:

Since this was a playoff game, most of the people at the club were into the game rather than just “partying.” This included two loud and rather obnoxious Marlins fans (yes, they have some!); unfortunately, their team had the upper hand in Wednesday’s game.

You can hear the PA system and the organist pretty clearly from across the street, as well as the fake crowd sounds that you hear on TV.

About the safety of being up there: Every other row was blocked off, as you can see in the photo, so you didn’t have to sit close to others. I felt like I was far enough away from other people to social distance well enough. Most people wore masks when they weren’t eating or drinking, though I have to say not everyone did. From what I could tell there were only about six people working at the club and no one was in the seating area attempting to enforce the mask mandate, it was more or less an honor system. Since it was an outdoor seating area and the wind was blowing pretty strongly, I thought it was a fairly low-risk thing to do. Overall on the various rooftops there might have been 300-400 people watching this game in person.

Most likely I wouldn’t do it again, though. I’m glad I had the experience, as I had never watched a Cubs game from a rooftop before, but I suspect that in normal times, during any random regular-season game most people on rooftops would be there for the party, not baseball.

Thanks again to Paul Yoffe of Red Bull for the ticket. Now let’s hope the Cubs win Thursday afternoon so we have a decisive Game 3 on Friday.

Marlins 5, Cubs 1: That’s not the way I’ve always heard it should be

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 22:25:00 GMT

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

This was not the way to start this best-of-three series.

This is something that’s been eminently clear for the 2020 Chicago Cubs for several weeks now.

They are simply not going to win if the offense vanishes.

Kyle Hendricks did his valiant best to keep the game close, but a three-run homer by Corey Dickerson— a Cubs-killer from his Pirates and Rockies days — put the game almost out of reasonable reach for the feeble Cubs offense. Another homer off Jeremy Jeffress made it pretty much impossible and the Cubs lost Game 1 of the wild-card series to the Marlins 5-1.

Things started out reasonably well. Hendricks didn’t allow a hit for three innings, though he walked a pair. A double in the fourth didn’t result in a run for the Marlins and then the wheels began to fall off for Kyle. He hit Jon Berti leading off the fourth. He’d hit only one batter in 12 starts and 81⅓ innings this season. That seemed to throw him off his rhythm. Benti stole second — the first steal off Kyle this year. Miguel Rojas then reached on a bad throw by Javier Baez with Benti stealing second. Hendricks got Chad Wallach to hit into a double play, but then Benti reached third on what was originally called a wild pitch, but later changed to a passed ball on Willson Contreras. Kyle got out of the inning on a groundout, but there’s at least one extra hitter he had to face.

Ian Happ gave the Cubs the lead in the bottom of the fifth [VIDEO].

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.

Right there I thought, “Well, Kyle, there’s your run,” and that turned out to be true. That one was oppo into the teeth of a 20 mile per hour crosswind, just barely making it into the empty bleachers:

Wind blowing out toward right field. Ian Happ cuts through it the opposite way for a two-out homer in the 5th.

Cubs take a 1-0 lead on the Fish. pic.twitter.com/aFFg4zyKqq
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) September 30, 2020

That wind, blowing out to right field, didn’t help fly balls by Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber hit later on that you might have thought would be home runs.

The seventh inning began quietly with a comebacker, but then the Marlins put runners on first and second with singles.

It seems to me that David Ross should have had a lefthander ready to face Dickerson, who hits LHP significantly worse than RHP, especially since Hendricks was already at 105 pitches.

But he didn’t, and Dickerson deposited Hendricks’ 106th pitch of the afternoon into the seats for a three-run homer.

You know, maybe the Cubs can mount a comeback if it’s just a two-run deficit, but Jeremy Jeffress made things worse by allowing a leadoff single to Starling Marte and a two-run shot to his former Brewer teammate Jesus Aguilar. The wind didn’t help Cubs fly balls much, but it did give Aguilar’s a boost. Go figure.

The Cubs went quietly in the seventh and eighth and after a brief bit of hope from a leadoff double by Contreras in the ninth, the next three hitters went quietly and the game was over.

Four hits. That’s it. Not more than one hit in any single inning. Besides Happ’s home run, just three Cubs got past first base. That’s just not going to cut it.

Give Marlins pitchers credit. Sandy Alcantara is a good young talent and he had Cubs hitters off-balance all afternoon with a fastball that touched 97 and some good breaking stuff. Hendricks did fine until it suddenly fell apart in the seventh. But when you’re talking a best-of-three series at your own ballpark, you kind of have to win the first game to set the tone for the series.

You don’t want to hear this but I suppose I have to mention it just for history’s sake — the Cubs franchise has now lost four straight postseason games to the Marlins franchise, a club that’s never lost a playoff series. It’d be nice to end that streak.

The Marlins might have lost Marte after this HBP by Dan Winkler in the ninth [VIDEO].

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.

Marte had to leave the game, and I hope he’s all right.

Now it’s an elimination game for the Cubs with Yu Darvish going Thursday afternoon. Darvish has been generally outstanding this year and now he’s going to need to be to send this series to a decisive Game 3. Sixto Sanchez will be the starter for the Marlins. Game time Thursday is again 1:08 p.m. CT and TV coverage is on ABC-7 Chicago and other ABC over-the-air affiliates nationally.

About my witnessing a game in person for the first time since Spring Training, I’ll have more to say about that tomorrow morning. At least I learned that I haven’t forgotten how to keep score.

It’s not over yet. But the bats are simply going to have to start hitting.

2020 MLB wild-card series day 2: Late afternoon/evening game thread

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 21:00:00 GMT

Petco Park in San Diego | Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Here you can discuss all the late afternoon/evening/night games taking place Wednesday.

Here are the details for the three remaining wild card series games Wednesday. Use this thread to discuss these three contests.

Cardinals at Padres, 4 p.m. CT

Kwang Hyun Kim, LHP vs. Chris Paddack, RHP

TV: ESPN2. Announcers: Tom Hart, Rick Sutcliffe and Pedro Gomez

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Yankees at Indians, 6 p.m. CT

Masahiro Tanaka, RHP vs. Carlos Carrasco, RHP

TV: ESPN. Announcers: Matt Vasgersian, Alex Rodriguez and Buster Olney

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Brewers at Dodgers, 9 p.m. CT

Brent Suter, LHP vs. Walker Buehler, RHP

TV: ESPN. Announcers: Karl Ravech, Eduardo Perez and Tim Kurkjian

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Enjoy, and discuss amongst yourselves.

Overflow thread 2: Cubs vs. Marlins Game 1, Wednesday 9/30, 1:08 CT

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 20:05:00 GMT

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

——

Overflow thread 1: Cubs vs. Marlins Game 1, Wednesday 9/30, 1:08 CT

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 19:05:00 GMT

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

——

First pitch thread: Cubs vs. Marlins Game 1, Wednesday 9/30, 1:08 CT

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 18:00:00 GMT

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Go get ‘em, Yu.

Cubs vs. Marlins Wednesday 9/30 Wild Card Game 1 threads

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 16:01:00 GMT

Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Wednesday’s game threads are all right here.

Chicago Cubs vs. Miami Marlins Wild Card Series Game 1 preview, Wednesday 9/30, 1:08 CT

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 16:00:00 GMT

Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

The postseason is here! A look at today's Cubs game, plus info on the other early afternoon contests.

You might remember some of the promotional things Kris Bryant has done with Red Bull. We’ve covered a number of those promotions. Among them: KB hitting baseballs into the Chicago River, KB posing as a pizza delivery driver, KB teaming up with Sluggers for a new batting cage.

Why am I telling you this today?

Because the Red Bull folks were kind enough to give me a rooftop ticket for today’s game. It’s on this rooftop, one of the few not owned by the Ricketts family. They’re limiting capacity and following all CDC mask and social distancing guidelines. I’ll try to tweet some photos from there and will have a separate article on my experience there tomorrow.

There is a slight chance of showers this afternoon, so here’s the local radar for you:

The bigger issue this afternoon will be a strong wind gusting out to right field:

Good morning, #PostseasonCubsTwitter. It’s been awhile.

Forecast on track, isolated showers, but wind the major factor:

15-25mph, w/ gusts up to 45mph(!) out to RF to start, transitioning to toward RF corner.

Temps mid 60s, falling to 50s. Partly cloudy.#FlytheW #JuntosMiami
— Cubs Weather (@cubsweather) September 30, 2020

Notes for today:

TOP OF THE HEAP: The Cubs were in first place all but one day of the regular season (following games of July 25 with a 1-1 record) and had sole possession of first place every day following play on July 26 through season’s end.
GAME 1, NOT SO GREAT: The Cubs own a 9-16-1 all-time record in first games of postseason rounds. But, since 2003, the last four times the Cubs have won Game 1 of a round featuring multiple games, the team has advanced.
THE PROFESSOR IN HIS HOUSE:Kyle Hendricks has posted a 1.98 ERA (30 earned runs in 136⅓ innings) in 20 starts at Wrigley Field since the start of 2019. That’s the third-lowest home ERA in the majors in that span, trailing only Mike Clevinger (1.95) and Hyun Jin Ryu (1.97). More on Kyle below.
GET THOSE BATS GOING: Cubs hitters posted a .231/.321/.414 road slash line in 27 games compared to a .210/.315/.354 slash line in 33 home games. The .210 home batting average and .354 home slugging mark were both lowest in the majors.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Postseason baseball at Wrigley Field.#FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/34LTrKWIpy
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 30, 2020

Marlins lineup:

The #Marlins lineup. Wallach gets nod to catch Sandy #Cubs pic.twitter.com/VmVQsfQaFq
— Joe Frisaro (@JoeFrisaro) September 30, 2020

Kyle Hendricks, RHP vs. Sandy Alcantara, RHP

Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Hendricks had a terrific September: five starts, 37⅓ innings, 1.45 ERA, 0.884 WHIP, just four walks and 30 strikeouts.

He also had an excellent season pitching at Wrigley Field: six starts, 43⅔ innings, 1.85 ERA, 0.756 WHIP, just three walks and 34 strikeouts.

His last start against the Marlins was May 8, 2019 at Wrigley and he threw eight innings, allowing five hits and an unearned run, with no walks and seven strikeouts. Current members of the Marlins are hitting .220 (18-for-82) against Kyle with no home runs.

Sounds like a recipe for victory.

Sandy Alcantara missed part of this season, as did a number of Marlins, on the COVID-19 list. He threw well after his return, with a 3.00 ERA and 1.190 WHIP in seven starts.

He made two starts against the Cubs last year and had a 6.55 ERA and 1.636 WHIP in 11 total innings. No current Cub has more than eight at-bats against him; that’s Javier Baez, who’s 3-for-8, and this would be a great time for Javy to come out of his season-long slump. Anthony Rizzo homered off him last May 6 at Wrigley.

Today’s game is on ABC-7 Chicago (and other ABC affiliates nationwide). Announcers: Jon Sciambi, Chipper Jones and Jesse Rogers.

Radio broadcasts:670 The Score, Sirius XM radio (click for channel), Cubs radio affiliates

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Since there will be several other games going on late this morning and while the Cubs game is in progress, here are the details for all games that start up to 3 p.m. CT this afternoon. A second thread for games that start at 4 p.m. CT or later will post at that time and you can use that thread for discussing those three games. A recap of the Cubs/Marlins game should be posted within an hour or so after the end of the game.

Here’s all the information you’ll need for the four American League wild-card series Game 1 contests this afternoon.

Reds at Braves, 11 a.m. CT

Trevor Bauer, RHP vs. Max Fried, LHP

TV: ESPN. Announcers: Matt Vasgersian, Alex Rodriguez and Buster Olney

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Astros at Twins, 12 noon CT

Jose Urquidy, RHP vs. Jose Berrios, RHP

TV: ESPN. Announcers: Karl Ravech, Eduardo Perez and Tim Kurkjian

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

White Sox at Athletics, 2 p.m. CT

Dallas Keuchel, LHP vs. Chris Bassitt, RHP

TV: ESPN. Announcers: Dave Flemming and Jessica Mendoza

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Blue Jays at Rays, 3 p.m. CT

Hyun Jin Ryu, LHP vs. Tyler Glasnow, RHP

TV: TBS. Announcers: Rich Waltz & Jimmy Rollins

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

The 2020 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used in previous years. Here’s how it works.

You’ll find the game preview posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at one hour, two hours and 2:45 after the scheduled game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Cubs set wild-card series roster

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:15:00 GMT

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

They’ll have 13 pitchers and 15 position players.

Just after I published this article about the Cubs lineup for this afternoon’s Wild Card Series Game 1, the team announced their 28-man roster for the series. Timing’s everything, right?

The only surprises are the additions of Ildemaro Vargas, who was activated off the 10-day injured list, and Josh Phegley as a third catcher. To make room for Phegley on the 40-man roster, lefthander Josh Osich was designated for assignment.

Here are the 28 Cubs eligible for this series.

Cubs Wild Card Series Game 1 lineup: Javier Baez dropped to seventh

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:05:36 GMT

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

The Cubs shortstop will hopefully anchor the bottom of the lineup.

Javier Baez began this season batting mostly third, but as he slumped, so did his spot in the lineup, eventually batting mostly sixth or seventh.

Seventh is where you’ll find Javy in today’s lineup:

Postseason baseball at Wrigley Field.#FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/34LTrKWIpy
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 30, 2020

Otherwise this is the lineup we’d have expected. Ian Happ did well leading off for a while this year, but hasn’t hit well lately. Hopefully that changes beginning this afternoon.

You’ll note that David Ross has alternated L/R throughout this lineup, an excellent idea.

The Cubs have not yet released their 28-man roster for this series but I would assume it will look very much like the active roster shown here (click on the “Active” tab). The only real question I’d have is whether Brailyn Marquez, activated just for the final game of the regular season, will be on this roster. I’d guess that since it’s only a three-game series, the Cubs might go with 13 pitchers and 15 position players to give themselves more flexibility.

As always, we await developments.

On The Horizon: Cubs vs. Marlins Wild Card series preview

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 13:00:00 GMT

Photo by David John Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Here’s a team we haven’t seen in quite some time.

The Marlins. Remember them?

The Cubs haven’t played the Marlins since May 9, 2019 — a span of 187 games, which is a lot even when we've been through a 60-game season this year. As of today, it’s 509 days since these two teams have seen each other.

As such, I thought I’d ask Ely Sussman, managing editor of our SB Nation Marlins site Fish Stripes, to tell us a bit about his team.

Following the infamous late July COVID-19 outbreak, once we learned that the Marlins—who even at full strength were lacking in star power and roster continuity—had lost the majority of their active players for an extended period of time, they were understandably dismissed as a potential 2020 contender. But to the delight of their tortured fanbase, they “rode the wave” to 31 wins and a berth in this year’s expanded postseason field.
Only five players (3B Brian Anderson, SP Pablo López, 1B/DH Jesús Aguilar, RP Brandon Kintzler and RP Brad Boxberger) stuck on the active roster for the entire summer, and each of them will be heavily relied upon during the Wild Card Series. Anderson is the closest thing that the Fish have to a “franchise player” after putting together his third straight above-average campaign, showing more power potential than ever (11 HR in 229 PA). His top challengers for that title are right-hander Sandy Alcantara, who starred in Friday night’s clinching win and consistently works deep into his games, and dynamic rookie Sixto Sánchez. Alcantara, Sánchez and López will be the Marlins’ starters for this series.
Overall, the Marlins are a mediocre hitting team, but they show their resiliency in two-out situations (accounting for 46.4 percent of their total runs scored). From Jon Berti, Lewis Brinson and Magneuris Sierra to rookies Jazz Chisholm and Monte Harrison, they are hyper-aggressive on the basepaths.
Don Mattingly is making his fourth postseason appearance as a major league manager, with only one series win on his résumé. He will (deservedly) receive NL Manager of the Year honors for the way he integrated countless prospects and journeymen onto the team and put them in positions to be successful. However, he has tendencies to bury the team’s best hitters too far down in the lineup and keep Miami relievers in annoyingly rigid roles.

Fun fact

In 2018 and 2019 combined — the last time these teams faced each other — the Cubs went 11-3 against the Marlins and 6-1 at Wrigley Field, the only Wrigley loss coming May 6, 2019 when the Cubs blew a ninth-inning lead.

Pitching matchups (2020 season record)

Game 1, Wednesday:Kyle Hendricks, RHP (6-5, 2.88 ERA, 0.996 WHIP, 3.55 FIP) vs. Sandy Alcantara, RHP (3-2, 3.00 ERA, 1.190 WHIP, 3.71 FIP)

Game 2, Thursday:Yu Darvish, RHP (8-3, 2.01 ERA, 0.961 WHIP, 2.23 FIP) vs. Sixto Sanchez, RHP (3-2, 3.46 ERA, 1.205 WHIP, 3.50 FIP)

Game 3, Friday (if necessary):Jon Lester, LHP (3-3, 5.16 ERA, 1.328 WHIP, 5.14 FIP) vs. Pablo Lopez, RHP (6-4, 3.61 ERA, 1.186 WHIP, 3.09 FIP)

Times & TV channels

Game 1, Wednesday: 1:08 p.m. CT, ABC

Game 2, Thursday; 1:08 p.m. CT, ABC

Game 3, Friday (if necessary): 1:08 p.m. CT, ABC

As noted last night when the broadcast schedule was announced, this is a real old-school postseason schedule, all day games. For one thing, it’ll mean somewhat warmer weather for the players, as this week’s going to be quite cool at night. The only contingency is for Friday’s game, if played. If the Cubs game is the only game remaining Friday, it will be played at 6:08 p.m. CT, otherwise it remains at 1:08. Announcers: Jon Sciambi, Chipper Jones and Jesse Rogers.

Prediction

The Marlins have had a remarkable journey this year, considering all the COVID-19 positive tests and all the players they had to use — 62 in all, including 37 pitchers. They did seem to run out of gas at the end of the regular season, losing five of their last eight and being outscored 56-26 in those games.

They were also just 9-14 against teams with winning records this year. The Cubs went 19-14 against teams who finished over .500.

The Marlins don’t hit righthanders (.235/.318/355) nearly as well as they do lefthanders (.265/.319/.456), and the Cubs have two RHP going in Games 1 and 2 who are very, very tough at Wrigley Field.

Lastly, we owe this franchise one. The Marlins have been a great story, but the Cubs will dispatch them by winning the first two games.

Up next

If the Cubs win the series, they will face the winner of the Braves/Reds wild-card series in Houston beginning Tuesday, October 6. If the Cubs lose the series, the next regular-season game will be Thursday, April 1, 2021 vs. the Pirates at Wrigley Field.

Outside The Confines: The NL postseason starts today

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 12:00:00 GMT

Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images

Brace yourselves for a big day of baseball!

Today is a very busy day for baseball, with a full eight-game postseason slate that will see the American League Wild Card games continue on to Game 2 (and potentially see some teams advance to the ALDS) while the National League kicks off their own best-of-three series.

With such a full day of games ahead, naturally all anyone in the sporting world can talk about is the postseason (while all anyone outside the sporting world can talk about is the debate), and I know which one I’d rather share links to.

So let’s just dive right into it.

Alex Silverman says the biggest problem facing sports today is learning how to appeal to Gen Z.
In a rare Meg Rowley post over at FanGraphs, she makes her picks for who will win the World Series (a theme you’ll notice a lot of in the following links).
Should Francisco Lindor be the Latino face of MLB? ESPN thinks so.
2020 had some truly bizarre regular season stats, and Tom Verducci breaks down the weirdest among them.
The Athletic staff make their postseason predictions. (The Athletic subscription required.)
Over at The Ringer, Claire McNear decodes Taylor Swift’s newest album to see who the pop star is picking for World Series winner.
ESPN gives us their biggest takeaways about Tuesday’s games.
While this wasn’t one of their takeaways, it should have been.

we're just gonna go ahead and bless your timeline with Oliver Perez's majestic mustache. pic.twitter.com/gzIxFco3SL
— Cut4 (@Cut4) September 30, 2020

Daniel R. Epstein writes an ode to the most 2020 game of the 2020 season.
The Minnesota Twins tragic postseason losing streak continues, as reported by Steve Richards.
When it comes to winning in the postseason, pitching depth might matter more than anything else, writes Tom Verducci.
Your team, yes YOUR team, is going to win the World Series, promises Baseball BBQ.
Keith Law brings us the top 20 players under 25 in the 2020 postseason. (The Athletic subscription required.)
Meanwhile Jeff Passan has 20 questions heading into the 2020 postseason.
Generations.

It's their time now. #Postseason pic.twitter.com/ESauz4kofm
— MLB (@MLB) September 29, 2020

With a limited pool of opponents, Jonathan Judge wonders how fair the Cy Young race really is this year.
Tom Verducci looks back to the expanded postseason of 1995 to ask whether or not 2020 can be similarly cathartic for baseball.
Ken Rosenthal reminds us that even though the postseason is a bit different this year, it still matters. (The Athletic subscription required.)
Marly Rivera spotlights why Gary Sanchez wasn’t behind the dish for Gerrit Cole in the Yankees series opener.
Get a hanky ready.

My grandad left an old bucket of balls at the batting cages we used to go to with this note on them.... I’m not crying, you’re crying pic.twitter.com/zlQFwNq1R2
— Ethan Anderson (@TheBigE_21) September 28, 2020

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.

Baseball history unpacked, September 30

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 11:00:00 GMT

Photo by Brian D. Kersey/Getty Images

Cubs, simCubs, and MLB news

... on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue brings a you a lightheartedCubs-centric look at baseball’s past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along as we review select scenes from the rich tapestry of Chicago CubsandMajor League Baseballhistory*.

Today in baseball history:

1933 - At Sportsman’s Park in a 12-2 Cubs rout of the Cardinals, Babe Herman hits for the cycle, becoming the first player in baseball history to do it three times. The Chicago outfielder, playing for the Dodgers, also accomplished the feat on two other occasions in 1931. (1)
1945 - Hank Greenberg hits a pennant-winning grand slam on the final day of the season. The Tiger left fielder’s ninth-inning bases-full homer beats the Browns, 6-3, clinching the American League flag for Detroit over the second-place Senators. (3)
1984 - The ML umpires announce that they will go on strike at the two LCS scheduled to begin October 2 in an effort to improve their pay and job security and to change the method by which post-season assignments are determined. MLB officials say the games will go on as scheduled using amateur umpires if necessary. (3)
1988 - Ronald Reagan, nearing the end of his presidency, throws out the ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field. The former Cub announcer then spends an inning and a half doing play-by-play with Harry Caray in the WGN television booth. (3)
1992 - Greg Maddux blanks the Pirates, 6-0, to become the Cubs’ first 20-game winner in 15 years. He will tie Tom Glavine for the National League lead in wins. (3)
2013 - The Cubs fire manager Dale Sveum one day after the end of a second straight disappointing season in which they lost 96 games after losing 101 in 2012. (3)
Cub birthdays: Hal O’Hagan, Alex Hardy, Robin Roberts HOF, Carlos Lezcano, Dave Magadan, Doug Jennings, Yorkis Perez, Curtis Goodwin.

SimNews:

The Washington Nationals defeated the Brewers and will be the Cubs’ first-round opponent, Saturday, October 3. Stephen Strasburg will be on the hill against Kyle Hendricks in the initial game of a potential five-game series. We don’t know yet what time the game will ‘air’.

All game video and related material is available commercial-free, 24/7, at the BCB Media Center.

Sources:

(1) — The National Pastime.
(2) — Today in Baseball History.
(3) — Baseball Reference.
(4) — Society for American Baseball Research.
(5) — Baseball Hall of Fame.
(6) — This Day in Chicago Cubs history.

*We vet each item as much as time allows. Please let us know if an item is in error, especially if you have a source. Thanks for reading!

Bleed Cubbie Blue

Cubs vs. Marlins Game 2 postponed, will be played Friday

Cubs vs. Marlins Thursday 10/1 rainout threads

Chicago Cubs vs. Miami Marlins Wild Card Series Game 2 preview, Thursday 10/1, 1:08 CT

Yu Darvish, RHP vs. Sixto Sanchez, RHP

Reds at Braves, 11 a.m. CT

White Sox at Athletics, 2 p.m. CT

2020 Cubs Heroes and Goats postseason: Wild Card Series Game 1

Cubs Wild Card Series Game 2 lineup: David Bote gets a start

SB Nation Reacts: Who’s the team to beat in MLB’s postseason?

Cubs postseason leaderboard update

The view of Cubs/Marlins game 1 from a Wrigley rooftop

Marlins 5, Cubs 1: That’s not the way I’ve always heard it should be

2020 MLB wild-card series day 2: Late afternoon/evening game thread

Cardinals at Padres, 4 p.m. CT

Yankees at Indians, 6 p.m. CT

Brewers at Dodgers, 9 p.m. CT

Overflow thread 2: Cubs vs. Marlins Game 1, Wednesday 9/30, 1:08 CT

Overflow thread 1: Cubs vs. Marlins Game 1, Wednesday 9/30, 1:08 CT

First pitch thread: Cubs vs. Marlins Game 1, Wednesday 9/30, 1:08 CT

Cubs vs. Marlins Wednesday 9/30 Wild Card Game 1 threads

Chicago Cubs vs. Miami Marlins Wild Card Series Game 1 preview, Wednesday 9/30, 1:08 CT

Kyle Hendricks, RHP vs. Sandy Alcantara, RHP

Reds at Braves, 11 a.m. CT

Astros at Twins, 12 noon CT

White Sox at Athletics, 2 p.m. CT

Blue Jays at Rays, 3 p.m. CT

Cubs set wild-card series roster

PITCHERS (13)

INFIELDERS (7)

OUTFIELDERS (5)

CATCHERS (3)

Cubs Wild Card Series Game 1 lineup: Javier Baez dropped to seventh

On The Horizon: Cubs vs. Marlins Wild Card series preview

Fun fact

Pitching matchups (2020 season record)

Times & TV channels

Prediction

Up next

Outside The Confines: The NL postseason starts today

Baseball history unpacked, September 30