One year ago, the Cubs were on their way to a playoff appearance with an outstanding outfield duo of Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker as two of their biggest contributors. Tucker is now a Dodger, and PCA has had a horrific start to the year, and yet, the Cubs’ offense is not only surviving all of that but thriving in the face of it—doing so with unexpected production. Their big signing of the offseason, Alex Bregman, has had a pedestrian start to the year; Seiya Suzuki has spent time on the shelf,
and it’s the likes of Carson Kelly and Moises Ballesteros doing the heavy lifting for this offense—not to mention the ever-reliable Ian Happ.
As the Dodgers ended up with Tucker, the Cubs found themselves next in line, hoping to help Michael Conforto rediscover his form, and the veteran lefty is off to a decent start as a bench bat/righty specialist. Tucker, on the other hand, is still looking for his power stroke, and maybe reconnecting with his former club will provide the necessary spark to kickstart his season. Assessing his number against Jameson Taillon, who’ll oppose Emmet Sheehan in the first game of this series, Tucker has one home run and four hits in 10 career at-bats against him from their days in the American League.
Having scored four runs in three games in a chippy series against the Giants, the Dodgers’ offense as a whole seeks to get back on track at home. It’s worth pointing out that Taillon has had problems keeping the ball in the yard, allowing six home runs in just four starts.
Friday’s game info
- Teams: Dodgers vs. Cubs
- Ballpark: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
- Start time: 7:15 p.m. PT
- TV: Apple TV
- Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)
