Chicago Cubs @ Chicago White Sox – Series Preview (August 9-10): Overview, Game and Broadcast Info, Starting Pitchers, W2W4
The Cubs (57-60) just took two of three from the Minnesota Twins at Wrigley Field for their second consecutive series win. Those victories bring their record within three games of the .500 mark, which is the closest they have been since the middle of June. Next up is a pair of games across town against a reeling White Sox team.
This season has been an absolute nightmare on the South Side, with the Sox currently 61 games below .500 (28-89) and on pace to break the 1962 New York Mets’ record for most losses in a single season (120). They were able to beat the Oakland A’s on Tuesday to snap a 21-game losing streak before losing again on Wednesday. That win was not enough to save manager Pedro Grifol who was fired Thursday and replaced with Grady Sizemore.
Not surprisingly, the Pale Hosers have all kinds of issues scoring runs with a team OPS of .617 that is the worst in baseball by a wide margin. Several of the leading hitters on the team were traded away at the deadline and probably the only dangerous person in the lineup is Luis Robert Jr., who has battled through injuries that have greatly diminished his numbers.
Their 4.83 team ERA is the second highest in MLB, but the Cubs will have to face promising young starter Garrett Crochet, who avoided the fire sale at the end of July. Closer Michael Kopech did get shipped out of town and the bullpen is extremely shaky.
The North Siders have been doing a great job pitching since the start of July and the offense, while still inconsistent, has shown signs of life during this recent stretch of improved play. If Craig Counsell‘s crew really wants to make things interesting the last month-plus, they have to win these two games. They have left themselves no margin for error and blowing a game against one of the worst teams in baseball history would be hard to recover from.
It’s time to see if the Cubs are interested in getting back into the playoff race or not. Winning these games won’t guarantee they climb into contention, but losing them will almost certainly put the finishing touches on the competitive portion of the season.
Game Time and Broadcast Info
- Friday, August 9 at 7:10pm CT on Marquee.
- Saturday, August 10 at 6:15pm CT on Fox.
Starting Pitchers
| Date | Pitcher | Age | T | ERA | W/L | FIP | K/BB |
| 8/9 | Jameson Taillon | 32 | R | 3.25 | 7-6 | 3.97 | 3.91 |
| Garrett Crochet | 25 | R | 3.19 | 6-8 | 2.64 | 5.40 | |
| 8/10 | Justin Steele | 29 | L | 3.33 | 3-5 | 3.36 | 3.59 |
| Chris Flexen | 30 | R | 5.53 | 2–11 | 5.14 | 1.80 |
What to Watch For
- Pete Crow-Armstrong is currently on a six-game hitting streak and looks more comfortable with the bat daily.
- Steele had his best start of the second half against the Cardinals after a couple of rough outings.
- Cody Bellinger sat out of Wednesday’s game with a sore hamstring after awkwardly tripping over first base on Tuesday night.
- The White Sox lead the all-time series against the Cubs 74-70, but the North Siders have won five of the last six.