After the Cubs won the opener 5 to 3 on a heroic swing of the bat by Addison Russel on Monday, the Cubs and Reds are back at it again tonight from Wrigley field. It's uncommon for two teams to have an off-day in the middle of a three game set but the start of the season is weird. Here are the lineups for tonight's contest.
Notably, the Reds are lining up without Zack Cozart, who left Monday night's game with an injury, and Devin Mesoraco. Cozart and Mesoraco are two of the Reds better bats so John Lackey's night got a little easier there. The Cubs are lining up with what is becoming the standard lineup against right-handed pitchers. Look for the Cubs to make Alfredo Simon throw them strikes as he averaged 3.26 per 9 innings pitched last year.
It should be another good game for the Cubs. If Lackey can get into a rhythm early, avoiding the big-bats of Joey Votto ,Brandon Phillips, and Jay Bruce he will have a good night. If he is leaving pitches up, as he was in Arizona, it could be a long night. Anthony Rizzo has pummeled Simon in the past, .333 with 2 home runs over 15 plate appearances. The rest of the offense has minimal experience against Simon outside of Jason Heyward (1/8) and Ben Zobrist (4/16). Enjoy the game!
Published on 4/13/2016 4:39:53 PM