As you know, the Cubs are off to a rough start this season.
But then, so are the Phillies. The teams enter this series with identical 7-8 records, and the Phillies have lost four of their last five, scoring a total of just 11 runs in those five games.
Here’s more on the Phillies from Ethan Witte, manager of our SB Nation Phillies site The Good Phight.
The Phillies begin this series in a rut. They aren’t scoring consistently, having not scored in 68 of their last 76 innings, looking rather futile while
doing so. However, when they do put together scoring runs, those runs tend to come in bunches. Bryce Harper has been swinging a hot bat of late, getting his season line up to .273/.375/.527 with three home runs. However, his production has been balanced by the lack of production from Alec Bohm, who is 0 for his last 16. The starting pitching has been decent of late, helped by a bullpen that has also been especially stingy. However, everything will be determined by how well the offense is playing, which is hasn’t been encouraging lately.
Fun facts
The Cubs will play at Philadelphia today through Wednesday, then host the Phillies for four games next Monday through Thursday. The final game will wrap up the season series between the teams, on April 23.
That is the second-earliest date on which they have finished playing each other. In 2001, they met at Philadelphia for three games on Apr 6-8, then played three at Wrigley Field on April 17-18, with a doubleheader the second day.
…..
The second game this year will be the 2,400th in the rivalry, which began in 1883. The Cubs have a .524 winning percentage against the Phillies, with 1,248 wins, 1,132 losses and 18 ties. They have won 138 more than they have lost at home, but have lost 22 more than they have won at Philadelphia. Their next loss there will be their 600th. They have won 577.
(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Probable pitching matchups
Monday: Javier Assad, RHP (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.529 WHIP, 3.15 FIP) vs. Cristopher Sánchez, LHP (1-1, 1.65 ERA, 1.347 WHIP, 1.06 FIP)
Tuesday: Colin Rea, RHP (0-1, 3.18 ERA, 1.147 WHIP, 3.59 FIP) vs. Aaron Nola, RHP (1-1, 3.63 ERA, 1.096 WHIP, 3.90 FIP)
Wednesday: Shōta Imanaga, LHP (0-1, 2.81 ERA, 0.813 WHIP, 2.21 FIP) vs. Jesús Luzardo, LHP (1-2, 6.23 ERA, 1.154 WHIP, 2.34 FIP)
Times & TV channels
Monday: 5:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, FS1 (outside the Cubs and Phillies market territories)
Tuesday: 5:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, TBS (outside the Cubs and Phillies market territories)
Wednesday: 5:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Prediction
I picked two of three the last time the Cubs were on the road and was right! (Rays series.) So… why not do that again?
Up next
The Cubs have Thursday off, then return to Wrigley Field for a three-game series against the New York Mets beginning Friday afternoon.
