Chicago Cubs Lineup: Cubs Look to Increase Lead in NL Central, Soler in at Left Field

We’d be perfectly happy if this series goes exactly the same way the last few games against the Pirates have gone. The Cubs have dominated the Pirates lately — we mentioned it in our series preview — and they will look to continue there stifling run against them as the series starts today.

Jorge Soler is starting today in left field and I am not at all surprised. There’s been a great deal of angst directed towards Jorge — we wrote about his struggles yesterday — and the bottom line is that he needs to get at-bats. Joe Maddon sees the headlines, he hears the questions and this is his answer. This is Joe backing his guy and putting him in the lineup to show his faith in him. Joe’s done it a lot with Jorge so far this year and I really hope that he can take advantage or at least not strike out four times.

Here’s today’s lineup:

Jason Hammel (R)
vs. Pirates – Francisco Liriano (L)
1. Dexter Fowler (S) CF
2. Jason Heyward (L) RF
3. Kris Bryant (R) 3B
4. Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B
5. Ben Zobrist (S) 2B
6. Jorge Soler (R) LF
7. Addison Russell (R) SS
8. David Ross (R) C
9. Jason Hammel (R) P