Chicago Cubs vs New York Yankees – Series Preview (September 6-8): Overview, Game and Broadcast Info, Starting Pitchers, W2W4
The Cubs’ (71-67) streak of winning series came to a halt when they could least afford it as they dropped two of three to the Pirates to fall further behind in the Wild Card race. Things did end on a high note with Chicago tossing a combined no-hitter in a 12-0 victory Wednesday night. Next up is a much more difficult opponent with the powerful Yankees coming to Wrigley Field for three starting Friday.
New York (80-60) got off to a blistering start in 2024 but has been hovering around the .500 mark in the second half. The Yanks have the best offense in all of baseball, leading in team OPS (.774) and total home runs (213). Those gaudy numbers are in large part due to the unbelievable seasons Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are having.
Soto has 38 home runs and a whopping 1.015 OPS, leading to a 7.5 WAR that would almost certainly be an MVP season under normal circumstances. However, Judge has 51 homers, a 1.157 OPS, and 9.5 WAR. This is literally like having peak Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig back in the lineup in the Bronx.
The problem for New York has been the pitching, which started out very good but has struggled recently. They have a team ERA of 3.88 for the season which is the ninth-best in baseball, but that number balloons up to 4.67 after the All-Star break.
The Yankees’ best starting pitcher this season has been Luis Gil, who has a 3.39 ERA in 124.1 innings pitched. Closer Clay Holmes has had a roller-coaster season with 29 saves and 11 blown chances, including one on a walk-off grand slam in Texas Tuesday.
What Cubs fans really care about in this series is the return of 2016 hero Anthony Rizzo to Wrigley Field for the first time since being traded in 2021. It’s been a very difficult year for Rizzo, who missed 11 weeks with a broken right arm and just came back five days ago. It’s going to be a very emotional moment when the former team leader steps to the plate for the first time this weekend.
The North Siders are still clinging to life in the playoff race but they need to win this series against the Yankees and their next against the Dodgers to keep hope alive. It’s quite a difficult challenge and the odds are not good. Maybe they can keep things going a little while longer.
Game Time and Broadcast Info
- Friday, September 6 at 1:20pm CT on MLB Network (out of market only) and Marquee.
- Saturday, September 7 at 1:20pm CT on MLB Network (out of market only) and Marquee.
- Sunday, September 8 at 1:20pm CT on Marquee.
Starting Pitchers
| Date | Pitcher | Age | T | ERA | W/L | FIP | K/BB |
| 9/6 | Jordan Wicks | 25 | L | 3.82 | 2-2 | 3.13 | 3.20 |
| Luis Gil | 26 | R | 3.39 | 12-6 | 3.88 | 2.18 | |
| 9/7 | Javier Assad | 27 | R | 3.21 | 7-4 | 4.54 | 2.00 |
| Clarke Schmidt | 28 | R | 2.52 | 5-3 | 3.55 | 3.35 | |
| 9/8 | Jameson Taillon | 32 | R | 3.66 | 9-8 | 4.09 | 3.96 |
| Gerrit Cole | 33 | R | 3.65 | 6-3 | 4.13 | 3.39 |
What to Watch For
- Dansby Swanson had six hits against the Pirates, including two home runs.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong has three-hit games in two of his last four played.
- Taillon had his best start in over a month against Pittsburgh on Monday with no runs allowed in seven innings.