Cubs Loose Headed into Game 3, Maddon May Tweak Lineup

Photo of Evan Altman Evan AltmanOctober 18, 2016

You could take an o out of “loose” and the statement would still be true, it’d just be missing the point in a big way. The Cubs did indeed lose to Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers Sunday night, but they’re not worried about it in the least. There was a relaxed vibe in the clubhouse as they prepared for the westward trip, an attitude that carried over into the flight itself. As if you needed to have it spelled out, this isn’t one of the teams we saw manged by Dusty Baker or Lou Piniella.

It’s not even the deer in the headlights we saw run over by the Mets last season.

Don’t let the smooth taste fool you, though, Joe Maddon is likely to make some changes to a lineup that hasn’t exactly hit well outside of some huge moments this postseason. They’re only slashing .193/.251/.361 through six games, a line you’d probably like to see improve moving forward. Of course, when you consider that they’ve had to face Johnny Cueto, Madison Bumgarner, and Kershaw already, those numbers aren’t bad.

Opposing them Tuesday night is former Cub Rich Hill, an underrated lefty who has been excellent since getting back into a starting role with Boston last season. He hasn’t looked very good in two postseason appearances, though, and he’ll be facing a team that batted .267 against lefties (second in NL) this season and that has a couple players due for a breakout. In an effort to leverage both past performance and positive regression, Maddon might want to shift things around a little.

We’ll find out soon enough what he chooses to do, but I have to think we’ll see something very similar to what the Cubs ran out against Bumgarner last week in San Francisco. Maybe with a few tweaks. Kris Bryant (.314), Javy Baez (.311), Ben Zobrist (.301), and Dexter Fowler (.293) carry the best averages against southpaws and my lineup card would have three of them at the top of the order. I’d have Javy a little further down, but ahead of Addison Russell, who is in a funk and only hit .223 against LHP this season.

Given my druthers, I’d also swap the right-handed-hitting Willson Contreras (.311 vs. LHP) for Game 1 hero Miggy Montero (.189). Contreras would also be better at limiting baserunners, but it may come down to who the starter prefers. I’ve got a feeling the man who no-hit the Dodgers in LA last season is going to pitch well this time around no matter who catches him.

Hill probably isn’t going last very long and he’s been susceptible to giving up early runs, so my personal preference is to load up on offense right off the jump. With that in mind, here’s how I’d fill out the lineup card:

  • Fowler (CF)
  • Bryant (3B)
  • Rizzo (1B)
  • Zobrist (LF)
  • Baez (2B)
  • Soler (RF)
  • Contreras (C)
  • Russell (SS)
  • Arrieta (P)

And what I think Maddon will do:

  • Fowler (CF)
  • Bryant (3B)
  • Rizzo (1B)
  • Soler (LF)
  • Zobrist (RF)
  • Baez (2B)
  • Russell (SS)
  • Montero (C)
  • Arrieta (P)

Would you make any changes?

Update

The actual lineup was pretty much a mix of the two above. Rizzo was moved down to the cleanup spot, where he’s sandwiched by Zobrist and Baez. I like it.







Photo of Evan Altman Evan AltmanOctober 18, 2016
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