Chicago Cubs Lineup: Lester on the Mound, Baez at Third, Bryant in Left

The Chicago Cubs (82-46) will close out their three-game set today against the Los Angeles Dodgers with Jon Lester (14-4, 2.81 ERA) leading the way. Jon’s been having a great season and an even better second half. He sports a 2.28 ERA and is 5-0 since the All-Star break.

The Cubs are 5-3 on the current road trip, so regardless of the result today they’ll end up with a winning record for the trip. The importance of winning road trips at this point in the season cannot be overlooked. From an obvious perspective of working towards the NL Central title and the not quite as immediately impactful, but still equally significant, building confidence on the road going into the playoffs, the Cubs have done a good job lately as they push into the last month of the season.

For today’s lineup, Joe Maddon has Javier Baez in at third base and Kris Bryant is out in left field. I absolutely love seeing both Bryant and Baez in the lineup together and not just because of the obvious talent they bring to the field but also because of the energy and exuberance they both show in everything they do. It’s going to be very interesting to see how Joe decides to approach the lineup once the playoffs roll around and how frequently he’ll have Javy in as a starter.

Here’s today’s Chicago Cubs lineup: