The Cubs Need To Beat The Yankees Today But Can They?

[Sammy Leo]

We're entering "must-win" territory for the hometown nine.

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

It’s Saturday, it’s September, and the Cubs aren’t quiiiiite out of it yet. Javier Assad will be pitching today, with clutch hero Christian Bethancourt doing the catching, as the Cubs try to claw their way even with the Yanks in this series. Rizzo will be back in the lineup (hopefully, you caught the Cubs’ tribute for him yesterday). 

As for yesterday’s game, there’s not much good to say other than the goatee looks good on Wicks. He pitched well enough, with only one bad inning over his five frames, but that inning—a walk and three runs on as many base hits before recording an out—was enough to lose the game for the Cubs, thanks to a tepid performance from the up-and-down offense, who are now sputtering at a crucial moment in the Wild Card race. Let’s hope it’s not all downhill from here as we look at today’s matchup.

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Pitchers
Assad has been an underrated keystone of consistency for the Cubs this season. His ERA is at 3.21 over 126 IP, which, if qualified (he needs 36 more innings), would be 7th in the National League, right behind teammate Shota Imanaga. Teams have difficulty generating runs off his fastball, which he usually throws for a sinker. The Yankees know how to generate runs off fastballs, but Javy works well under pressure. He’s one of my favorite pitchers to watch for his ability to translate rage into greater discipline; when runners reach first and second, he has a Mad Max-like ability to get key strikeouts and double plays, all while looking at you like he’s going to make you an offer you can’t refuse. Watch out for a miraculous inning escape or two as he takes on a powerful and patient Yankees lineup.

The wind is forecast to blow out to left field today, which won’t help against the homer-happy Yankee bats. Assad and the rest of the Cubs’ pitching staff will have to get some swing-and-miss going, especially after yesterday's six walks. Locating the sinker early in the count will be a key to Assad’s success.

Like Jordan Wicks and Luis Gil, Yankee starter Clarke Schmidt has been out for most of the season; this will be his first major-league start since May 27th, which may provide the Cubs hitters with a slight advantage. Schmidt throws a mix of cutters, sweepers, sinkers, and curves with the odd changeup. Before his shutdown in May (lat strain), Schmidt had worked a 2.52 ERA over 60.2 innings. We’ll see if the Cubs can put a bump or two in that number today.

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Offense
The Cubs had no answer for Luis Gil or the Yankee bullpen, a disappointing but predictable fall from their towering surge of double-digit performances against, it must be said, much worse teams. Nonetheless, fans can still feel excited by this lineup, with its mix of rookies finding their true power and veterans remembering how to play ball as it slowly but surely becomes too late. We’ll see if they can find any rust on Schmidt when they face him, or maybe we’ll see more pinch-hit heroics masterminded by the ever-shrewd Craig Counsell, who sure as hell knows when to hand Mike Tauchman a bat.

Or maybe this is the start of yet another September dive, the kind that Cubs fans always start bracing for in May. Tune in to find out—you can catch the game on Marquee Sports Network, MLB.TV, and Fubo TV at 1:20 pm CST (2:20 EST).

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