CHICAGO CUBS (46-56, 4th in NL Central)
Last Series vs. Rockies: May 17-18, 2010 @ Wrigley Field (W 2-0)
The Cubs' pitching kept the Rockies' bats quiet on their way to sweeping the short series during what was previously Colorado's worst road trip of the season (before the post-ASG one, of course). Randy Wells, who won't see action in the upcoming series, allowed just one run in 6.2 innings in the first game of the series. Aaron Cook did his best to counter and kept the Rockies in the game, but the Cubs eventually won thanks to a walkoff two-run homer by Aramis Ramirez. Carlos Silva took the mound in the second game and picked up the victory despite nearly squandering a three-run lead, as he allowed a two-run homer to Todd Helton that got Colorado back to within a run. However, the Cubs picked up three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure the sweep. Tyler Colvin paced the Chicago offense with three hits in that ballgame.
Recent Series Results: won 2-1 vs. St. Louis, lost 1-2 at Houston
The Cubs have recently won series over the likes of the Cardinals and Phillies, but have lost two series to the Astros in that same time frame. First baseman Derrek Lee has pulled himself off of the trade market by exercising his full no-trade clause. Interest was building quickly for the veteran after he hit .341/.370/.477 over his last ten games before having the Cubs' last game off. Aramis Ramirez has enjoyed a superb July, posting a 1.062 OPS with nine home runs. Conversely, Carlos Silva has cooled in July after having a nice first half. He's 2-2 with a 6.86 ERA and a .936 OPS-against this month. Catcher Geovany Soto (.286/.403/.523) has been enjoying a nice bounce-back season, but has been sidelined for the past couple of games with a foot injury. Finally, SP/RP Carlos Zambrano is set to rejoin the team, although his potential role in the upcoming series has yet to be defined.
Friday-Sunday: 3-game series @ Coors Field
Expected Pitching Matchups
Friday, 30 July 2010 @ 7:10pm MT
Saturday, 31 July 2010 @ 6:10pm MT
Sunday, 1 August 2010 @ 1:10pm MT
More after the jump...
Expected Lineup
Player | Pos | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | ISO | BABIP | wOBA |
Tyler Colvin |
RF | 0.267 | 0.325 | 0.547 | 0.873 | 0.280 | 0.309 | 0.372 |
Starlin Castro |
SS | 0.311 | 0.360 | 0.446 | 0.806 | 0.135 | 0.350 | 0.345 |
Derrek Lee |
1B | 0.248 | 0.333 | 0.387 | 0.720 | 0.139 | 0.297 | 0.319 |
Aramis Ramirez |
3B | 0.224 | 0.279 | 0.428 | 0.707 | 0.203 | 0.228 | 0.303 |
Marlon Byrd |
CF | 0.313 | 0.376 | 0.469 | 0.845 | 0.156 | 0.341 | 0.374 |
Alfonso Soriano |
LF | 0.268 | 0.334 | 0.530 | 0.865 | 0.262 | 0.306 | 0.374 |
Geovany Soto |
C | 0.286 | 0.403 | 0.523 | 0.926 | 0.237 | 0.322 | 0.401 |
Ryan Theriot |
2B | 0.285 | 0.321 | 0.329 | 0.650 | 0.044 | 0.320 | 0.292 |
Bench
Player | Pos | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | ISO | BABIP | wOBA |
Koyie Hill | C | 0.198 | 0.234 | 0.257 | 0.491 | 0.059 | 0.286 | 0.211 |
Jeff Baker |
Util |
0.238 | 0.286 | 0.385 | 0.670 | 0.146 | 0.308 | 0.296 |
Mike Fontenot |
IF |
0.283 | 0.329 | 0.396 | 0.726 | 0.113 | 0.321 | 0.316 |
Kosuke Fukudome |
OF |
0.250 | 0.356 | 0.405 | 0.762 | 0.155 | 0.275 | 0.337 |
Xavier Nady |
OF |
0.223 | 0.289 | 0.338 | 0.627 | 0.115 | 0.271 | 0.282 |
Closer
Injuries