Chicago Cubs @ Cincinnati Reds – Series Preview (April 3-5): Overview, Game and Broadcast Info, Starting Pitchers, W2W4
The regular season is underway for the Cubs, who dropped their opening series to the Brewers at Wrigley Field this past weekend. They lost the last two games after an impressive Opening Day shoutout victory by Marcus Stroman, in part because their opponents offense couldn’t keep pace.
Saturday’s loss was particularly annoying because Chicago had a one-run lead in the 8th inning before Milwaukee came back to win. Now David Ross and his team go out on the road for the first time to take on the division-rival Cincinnati Reds.
The Reds have shed almost all of their veteran salaries other than Joey Votto and is still in full rebuild mode. They do have several interesting young talents, including fire-balling pitcher Hunter Greene and former rookie of the year shortstop Jonathan India.
The Reds took two of three from the even lowlier Pirates to open up their season. If the Cubs want to be better in 2023, this is one of the teams they will need to beat up on. Chicago absolutely cannot sleep on this squad, however. It may be young but there is talent on the roster and, frankly, the Cubs aren’t good enough to take anyone for granted at this point.
Game Time and Broadcast Info
- Monday, April 3 at 5:40pm CT on Marquee Sports Network.
- Tuesday, April 4 at 5:40pm CT on Marquee Sports Network.
- Wednesday, April 5 at 11:35am on MLB Network (out of market only) and Marquee Sports Network.
Starting Pitchers
| Date | Pitcher | Age | T | ERA | W/L | FIP | K/BB |
| 4/3 | Drew Smyly* | 33 | L | 3.47 | 7-8 | 4.23 | 3.50 |
| Connor Overton* | 29 | R | 2.73 | 1-0 | 3.65 | 1.27 | |
| 4/4 | Hayden Wesneski* | 25 | R | 2.18 | 3-2 | 3.20 | 4.71 |
| Luis Cessa* | 30 | R | 4.57 | 4-4 | 5.02 | 2.11 | |
| 4/5 | Marcus Stroman | 31 | R | 0.00 | 1-0 | 2.27 | 2.67 |
| Hunter Greene | 23 | R | 8.10 | 0-0 | 5.23 | 2.67 |
*2022 statistics
What to Watch For
- Dansby Swanson is absolutely on fire to start the season with seven hits in three games.
- Patrick Wisdom hit two home runs on Sunday and has the ability to carry the lineup if he gets hot.
- India has reached base seven times in his first three games as well.
- Cody Bellinger is 0-for-11 with just one walk through the opening weekend of 2023.