Chicago Cubs Lineup (9/16/24): Standard Batting Order, Imanaga Pitching
The Cubs are back in Chicago all week and they’re taking on two of the worst teams in baseball, which would have been much more promising had they not just dropped two games to the Rockies in the Rockies. The A’s come to town 20 games under .500 and losers of two straight, though they’re still well ahead of the Angels and they may have a little fight in them.
This team can bang and they’re third in the AL with 188 homers, so it could get interesting if the wind happens to be blowing out at all. That power comes at a cost, which in this case is a nearly 25% strikeout rate as a team. They’re slightly better against lefties and Shōta Imanaga has been prone to giving up dingers, making this less than ideal for him. Keeping the ball up in the zone will be key.
You have probably already surmised that having a terrible record in spite of all those homers means Oakland’s pitching has sucked. Well, it’s also that they’re 25th in MLB with just 607 total runs. But yes, the pitching has also been bad. Their 4.32 team ERA ranks 24th and their 7.88 K/9 is 29th, so the Cubs should be able to generate plenty of offense tonight and in the two subsequent games.
The lineup is the same as usual, with Ian Happ leading off in left and Dansby Swanson playing shortstop. Seiya Suzuki is the DH, Cody Bellinger is in right, Isaac Paredes is at third, and Michael Busch mans first base. Nico Hoerner is at second, Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center, and Miguel Amaya is the catcher.
They’re facing 22-year-old Joey Estes, who’s having a pretty okayish season when you consider his 56.6% fly ball rate. His .261 BABIP against is an indicator of very good fortune, but his expected stats all back up his actual performance. Things would probably look way worse if Estes had even a league-average walk rate, as he doesn’t miss many bats and has allowed 109 hits in just under 118 innings.
Armed with a decent fastball that sits 92 mph and works mostly middle-up and a sweeper/slider combo that lights up the middle of the zone way more than I’m used to seeing, Estes has to avoid hard contact in order to find success. It’s wild that he’s in the 73rd percentile for chase even though his strikeout numbers are so low, but that just tells me he doesn’t put hitters away.
As good as that all sounds for the Cubs, they’ve laid eggs in numerous games against similar pitchers this season. I think they’ll jump on Estes early and keep him from finding a groove. We’ll find out at 6:40pm CT on Marquee and 670 The Score.