Cubs Lineup (7/11/24): The Finale in Baltimore

CUBS LINEUP — Same nothing intro for Game 3 in Baltimore. Nope, nothing here. I am not superstitious at all.

Chicago Cubs Lineup:

1. Nico Hoerner, 2B
2. Michael Busch, 1B
3. Seiya Suzuki, RF
4. Ian Happ, LF
5. Chris Morel, DH
6. Dansby Swanson, SS
7. Miles Mastrobuoni, 3B
8. Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF
9. Tomas Nido, C

With Cody Bellinger (fractured finger) and Mike Tauchman (groin strain) both on the Injured List, the Cubs lineup is changing a bit. They basically have two ways to go until one or both of these guys return, as we discussed earlier: (1) more starts for Miles Mastrobuoni at third base or (2) Alexander Canario in the outfield and/or at DH. Today, Craig Counsell is going with the former, which is no surprise.

Mastrobuoni has made more than his fair share of impressive defensive plays since playing more third base here lately, and I think it’s hard a real impact on some of these latest wins. Nonetheless, losing Bellinger (even when he’s not at his best) is going to sting. The lineup is shorter than it’s been in a while, which means we’re going to need to see Christopher Morel really step up. Ditto Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson. And that’s assuming Busch, Suzuki, and Happ keep hitting.

Fortunately, each of those other three had a nice game yesterday (right after I wrote about how cold they had been), so … good start? The Cubs are going for a sweep of one of the league’s best teams with Justin Steele on the mound (on his birthday!). Let’s do it.

Baltimore Orioles Lineup:

1. Gunnar Henderson, SS
2. Adley Rutschman, DH
3. Ryan Mountcastle, 1B
4. Anthony Santander, RF
5. Jordan Westburg, 3B
6. Austin Hays, LF
7. Jorge Mateo, 2B
8. Cedric Mullins, CF
9. James McCann, C

Pitching Matchup:

Chicago Cubs: Justin Steele, LHP

The Cubs pitching staff has held arguably the best team in baseball to just 2 runs in 18.0 innings pitched. That is a TOUGH act to follow. But if anyone was up to it, it’s Justin Steele.

Steele is probably the Cubs best pitcher overall (I love that Shota has made that a legitimate question), coming off his first career complete game against the Angeles, which was, itself, preceded by five straight quality starts. Going all the way back to May 27, Steele has a 1.67 ERA over eight starts and 54 innings pitched, with 54 strikeouts and a .186 AVG against. He’s more-or-less locked in. HOWEVER, the Orioles are quite good and not usually held to this few runs for this long.

At least Steele’s complete game was only 95-pitches long. Getting up and down 9 times matters too, but that’s a sufficiently low pitch count that I’m not as concerned about fallout fatigue as I normally would be.

Baltimore Orioles: Albert Suarez, RHP

On the surface, Suarez’s 2.48 ERA over 11 starts (18 games total) and 65.1 IP is intimidating. But a quick peek under the hood reveals some flaws for the Cubs lineup to exploit. For one, an 18.6% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate doesn’t scream shut-down starter. For another, while he has managed hard contact well enough, he’s not quite elite, he’s more like better than average. And when you combine that with a 23.2% line drive rate (24.7% as a starter), you can imagine some balls finding grass if the BABIP Gods shine brightly on the Cubs tonight in Baltimore. We’ll see.

Broadcast Info:

Chicago Cubs (44-49) vs Baltimore Orioles (57-35) at 5:35 pm CT – Marquee Sports Network, MLBN, 670 The Score

Chicago Cubs:

Baltimore Orioles: