The Chicago Cubs were handed another brutal loss last night, dragging themselves down to a season-low eight games below .500. And remember this was a team that, on April 21, was five games OVER .500. So, yeah … this has been a truly horrendous stretch. There’s still a teeny, tiny bit of time to change Jed Hoyer’s patient mind about the deadline, but that time is running out. They need to start winning. Like, tonight. Here’s a look at the Chicago Cubs lineup for Game Two against the Angels.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Nico Hoerner, 2B
- Dansby Swanson, SS
- Ian Happ, LF
- Seiya Suzuki, RF
- Mike Tauchman, CF
- Trey Mancini, DH
- Miguel Amaya, C
- Matt Mervis, 1B
- Miles Mastrobuoni, 3B
Well how about that? Miguel Amaya is in the Cubs lineup for the fourth straight game, catching his second with Tucker Barnhart nowhere to be found. That feels notable. I still think the Cubs are going to roll with three catchers for a while, fearing what happens if Yan Gomes is injured, but this is certainly moving in a telling direction. More on that another time.
With Amaya behind the plate and Gomes on the bench, Trey Mancini enters as the DH, leaving Chris Morel on the bench. Matt Mervis is in there again at first base, after a double and a costly error yesterday. It’s still the right call to give him as much run as possible.
At third base, the lefty Miles Mastrobuoni takes over with Patrick Wisdom on the bench. As we discuss below, the Angels starter, Jaime Barria, is carrying traditional splits this season.
Tick tock, Cubs. Tick, tock.
Los Angeles Angels Lineup:
- Mickey Moniak, RF
- Shohei Ohtani, DH
- Mike Trout, CF
- Anthony Rendon, 3B
- Matt Thaiss, C
- Brandon Drury, 2B
- Jared Walsh, 1B
- Luis Rengifo, LF
- Zach Neto, SS
Pitching Matchup:
Chicago Cubs: Jameson Taillon, RHP
Jameson Taillon’s last start was BY FAR his best of the season, going 5.2 innings against the Padres, surrendering just one earned run on three hits and no walks with three strikeouts. He still hasn’t gone long enough to qualify for a quality start, but I think we’re all just hoping he can continue to trend in the right direction. Remember, he’s here for three more years after this one. We’ve got a long way to go. And, hey, maybe the Cubs lineup will even provide some run support. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Los Angeles Angels: Jaime Barria, RHP
Jaime Barria was converted into a reliever before the 2022 season, but he’s still occasionally used as a starter whenever the need arrises. His last outing, for example, was a start against the White Sox that lasted 5.0 innings with just one earned run surrendered. And, in fact, that was just his SECOND earned run allowed since his first outing of the year. During that 30.1 IP stretch, he’s made two starts and 10 relief appearances with a 0.59 ERA, a 48.1% groundball rate, a 24% strikeout rate, and as much weak contact generated as anyone in baseball. He’s tough. But he’s also not a starter for a reason. Hopefully, the Cubs lineup can remind the Angels of that tonight. Random note: Early in his career, Barria was a reverse-split righty, but he’s been neutral or traditional split ever since, including this season.
Broadcast Info:
Chicago Cubs (26-34) vs Los Angeles Angels (31-30) at 8:38 pm CT on MARQ, MLBN, 670 The Score
