After Monday’s tie breakers to decide the NL West and Central division champions, the Wild Card Game was also set. It’ll be the Cubs hosting the Rockies at Wrigley Field at 7 p.m. on ESPN. Here’s what we know about the game.
Jon Lester will start for the Cubs, while Kyle Freeland will start for the Rockies. Here are their numbers for 2018.
Lester: 18-6, 3.32 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 149 K, 64 BB, 24 HR, 4.40 FIP, 4.43 xFIP, 19.6% K rate, 8.4% BB rate
Freeland: 17-7, 2.85 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 173 K, 70 BB, 17 HR, 3.67 FIP, 4.22 xFIP, 20.5% K rate, 8.3% BB rate
So, on paper the Rockies have a slight advantage…
HOWEVA!
Lester will be starting on normal rest, but Freeland is going on three-days rest, as he last pitched on Sept. 28.
So, now we have to ask who will be available to pitch for the Cubs. Joe Maddon has already said that Cole Hamels will be available out of the bullpen for the Wild Card Game.
Cubs will have Cole Hamels available out of bullpen tomorrow if needed. Kyle Hendricks would not be available (would be getting ready for Game 1 NLDS Thursday if needed).
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) October 1, 2018
Pedro Strop also said on Monday that he’ll be ready on Tuesday night. Strop hasn’t pitched since straining his hamstring on Sept. 13.
Pedro Strop just told me that he'll be ready to go tomorrow. https://t.co/HNJmZSGrEM
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) October 1, 2018
As for Freeleand, the short rest factor could come in play, but what we do know for certain is that Maddon will put in a lot of right-handed hitters in the lineup against him. In 2018, Freeland allowed a .185/.264/.255, slash line against lefties compared to .255/.319/.385, against righties.
So, Anthony Rizzo and Daniel Murphy will most likely be the only two lefties in the lineup against Freeland. Albert Almora Jr. will be in center field, with Ben Zobrist in right and I’m guessing Kris Bryant will be in left with David Bote starting at third.
Both teams are obviously coming off draining losses on Monday, but at least the Cubs didn’t have to deal with travel. The Rockies had to jump on a plane from LA after their Game 163 loss to the Dodgers and fly to Chicago.
One last thing. Both teams will only have a 25-man roster. Back in 2015, when the Cubs beat the Pirates in the Wild Card Game, they went with 15 position players and 10 pitchers. So, you should definitely expect to see Terrance Gore make the roster for the Cubs on Tuesday.
