Chicago Cubs Lineup (9/11/24): Bethancourt Catching, Wicks Going for Sweep
The Cubs have gotten back to their winning ways with two victories in LA to win the series and breathe the tiniest whiff of life into their dying playoff hopes. They’re four games out of the Wild Card with 17 to play, so it’s still mathematically possible. And with their next 10 games after this one coming against the Rockies, A’s, and Nationals, the calculus could get really interesting here.
All that matters now, however, is Wednesday night at Chavez Ravine. Jordan Wicks has a little experience against the Dodgers from his start against them back in April, when he struck out seven and walked one over 4.2 innings. The Cubs could use another performance like that from the lefty as he continues to work back from his long layoff.
They may not need it if the bats keep rolling, with Ian Happ in the leadoff spot playing left and Dansby Swanson making up for his early struggles in the two-hole. Seiya Suzuki is the DH, Cody Bellinger is in right, and Isaac Paredes is at third. Michael Busch is at first, Nico Hoerner is at second, Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center, and Christian Bethancourt is behind the dish.
This should be the most favorable matchup of the series for them on paper with 25-year-old righty Bobby Miller making his 12th start in what has been a very rough season. His elevated walk rate has been made far worse by his 15 homers allowed in 49.2 innings, and the issues don’t appear to be getting better with time. Miller’s only homerless start came in his season debut and he allowed multiple dingers in four of his last five outings.
It’s kind of a strange phenomenon for a guy who gets grounders at nearly a 49% clip, but he leaves his 98 mph fastball right in the happy zone way too often. That has resulted in 1st-percentile average exit velocities and 2nd-percentile ranks for both barrel and hard-hit percentages. Yikes.
Miller’s changeup has been really good and it provides a huge velo separation at 86 mph, but his breaking pitches have been very poor and he doesn’t seem to know where his sinker is going. If hitters can just spit on spin, they can sit dead red on the heater and blast away. The Cubs jumped all over Miller back in April, chasing him after just 1.2 innings with five earned runs on four hits and two walks.
Their homer against him came from Swanson, who’s been swinging a hot bat since the Olympics and is a threat to go big fly again. The platoon splits are pretty even, but Miller has been much better at home than on the road. That could pose problems as the Cubs try to close out the sweep.
First pitch is at 9:10pm CT on Marquee and 670 The Score.
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— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 11, 2024