Chicago Cubs Lineup (8/23/21): Ortega Leads off, Hermosillo in RF, Hendricks Looks to Extend Wins Lead

Rafael Ortega assumes his regular spot again tonight, followed by Frank Schwindel at first, Ian Happ in left, and Patrick Wisdom at third. David Bote bats fifth and plays second, Michael Hermosillo handles right, Robinson Chirinos is the catcher, and Andrew Romine is the shortstop.

Kyle Hendricks leads MLB with 14 wins, which is incredible when you think about just how bad the Cubs have been this season. He hasn’t done it by being consistently dominant, but by limiting the damage done by a very high number of hits and a few more walks than usual. Hendricks has also given up a lot of homers, though the pace has slowed on that front since early in the season.

Going for the Rockies is 26-year-old righty Antonio Senzatela, who escaped with a no-decision when he faced the Cubs in Denver earlier in the month. He is a big-time strike-thrower who doesn’t walk many batters and who has allowed just nine homers out of 133 total hits allowed. With at least six hits given up in each of his last 10 starts, including seven to the Cubs, you have to figure Senzatela will be battling plenty of traffic tonight.

His fastball/slider combo accounts for 87% of his pitches, then he rounds things out with a change and curve. His 95 mph fastball gets the most work at around 56% and the slide-piece is at 31%, though that breaking ball has been pretty awful and tends to back up on him pretty frequently. It’s got enough movement to keep the ball in the yard, but not enough to miss many bats.

To wit, Senzatela’s 6.11 K/9 mark is the third-lowest among 70 pitchers with at least 110 innings logged this season. Hendricks is seventh-lowest at 6.66, so this could be one of those games in which the winner is simply the one who makes the fewest mistakes.

First pitch from Wrigley is at 7:05pm CT on Marquee Sports Network and 670 The Score.

Here is tonight's #Cubs starting lineup against the Rockies. pic.twitter.com/WvNjxlYFj8

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 23, 2021