Chicago Cubs Lineup (9/15/24): Hendricks Tries to Avoid Season-Ending Sweep
The Cubs will still have 13 games to play after today, but this could be the last one that matters. Even if they can’t be mathematically eliminated, being swept by the Rockies and sitting at least six games out of the Wild Card renders the rest of the season pretty much meaningless. Not that there would have been much hope even with wins on Friday and Saturday, it’s just that the late losses took all remaining wind out of their sales.
It doesn’t help that they must turn to Kyle Hendricks to play the role of stopper in the worst season of his professional career. He’s been okay in his last two starts, however, and his numbers at Coors Field have actually been pretty good over the years. Over five starts in Denver, Hendricks has a 3.64 ERA with 23 strikeouts, five walks, and just two homers allowed. Of course, the starting pitching hasn’t been the problem so far this weekend.
The offense may need to hang a dozen runs on the Rox in order to keep the lead safe from a bullpen that has fallen back into its early-season ways. Ian Happ leads off yet again, followed by Dansby Swanson, Seiya Suzuki, and Cody Bellinger. After that, it’s Isaac Paredes, Michael Busch, Nico Hoerner, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Miguel Amaya. I didn’t bother with positions because you’re smart enough to figure those out on your own.
Well, you are. You…not so much.
They’re up against Cal Quantrill, who is having something of a bounceback season after being acquired from Cleveland last November. Quantrill was DFA’d by the Guardians following the worst season of his career, which came after his two best seasons, and now he’s gutting it out with the Rockies. The numbers don’t jump out at you and his stuff is pretty pedestrian on the whole, but Quantrill can be a problem for hitters when his offspeed stuff is working.
His splitter ranks in the top 10 in MLB for run value (4) and he throws it nearly a third of the time, while his changeup is a top-10 offering in terms of run value per 100 pitches (3.5). He only throws the latter at a 2% clip, so it’s not much of a weapon. Quantrill’s 94 mph sinker more than wipes out anything he gains from his other pitches, however, as it has a -13 value according to Statcast.
That’s far worse than in any previous season and the offspeed stuff is far better, giving us plenty of reason to believe the thin mountain air has an effect on his results. That sinker doesn’t get in enough on right-handed batters and most of his other pitches land in the middle third of the zone, leading to nearly even platoon splits. What’s very interesting there is that Quantrill gets traditional results at home and reverse splits on the road.
He’s allowed 10 homers at Coors and 10 in other parks, with left-handed batters hitting seven against him at home and righties hitting eight on the road. The Cubs have been hitting pretty well so far and figure to do so again this afternoon, with Bellinger looking to continue his hot hitting as hopes to parlay a strong finish into a bigger contract in free agency.
First pitch is at 2:10pm CT on Marquee and 670 The Score.
Lining up.
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— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 15, 2024