The 7-5 Chicago Cubs head out West to take on the 5-8 Seattle Mariners for a three-game series. The Cubs are coming off a 1-2 series loss to the San Diego Padres that saw them blow an 8-0 lead in game one then get blown out 10-2 in the series finale. The Mariners are coming off a three-game series that they lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 1-2.
Game One: Jordan Wicks (0-1, 4.15 ERA) vs Bryce Miller (1-1, 3.00 ERA) Time 9:40 PM
Wicks pitched well last game against the Dodgers eventually being lifted with two men on that ended up scoring when Jose Cuas came into the game. Wicks has yet to get past the fourth inning and will look to do so tonight against this Mariners team. Miller on the other hand has pitched in 12 innings so far this year striking out 13, and walking only three. This should be a good pitching matchup and a fun game to watch.
Game Two: Shota Imanaga (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Emerson Hancock (1-1, 11.42 ERA) Time 9:40 PM
Shota Imanaga has been fantastic for the Cubs so far, pitching 10 innings of work with zero walks, four hits allowed, and striking out 12 batters. I think we see him continue his fantastic start with another strong outing on Saturday night on the West Coast. His opponent Emerson Hancock has been allowing plenty of base runners with a 1.96 WHIP paired with his high ERA, which could be a good recipe to get these Cubs Bats back in synch.
Game Three: Javier Assad (1-0, 1.64 ERA) vs Luis Castillo (0-3, 6.89 ERA) Time 4:10 PM
Assad continues to be a versatile weapon in the Cubs pitching staff whether it’s from the bullpen or the Starting rotation. In 11 innings of work, he’s allowed seven hits, four walks, one home run, and struck out 12. Luis Castillo on the other hand has struggled out of the gate and was one of my top picks for potential CY Young award winners for the American league this year. He has thrown 15.2 innings of work, allowing 25 hits, four walks, two home runs, and struck out 18 batters so far this year. This is the time for the Cubs to try and jump on him early because before long Castillo will figure it out and get back on track he is too good of a pitcher not too.
Things To Know
As the Cubs enter this series against the Mariners they have been very up and down, besides the series against the Colorado Rockies which they swept. The bats have been decent so far this year, but not always there when they need them. They enter this series outscoring the Mariners 73/42 which hopefully the Cubs Pitching can keep the bats quiet especially Julio Rodriguez who is off to a very slow start with only one extra-base hit on the year which was a double. The Mariners team leader in home runs is Dominic Canzone, while Mitch Haniger leads the team in average and RBIs. the Cubs did send Jose Caus back to the minors and called up Keegan Thompson to take his spot in the bullpen so hopefully we can see a little more stability from the pen this series for the Cubs. Shota Imanaga has yet to allow a walk, I will be very interested to see how he approaches this Mariners team on Saturday and see if he can keep the walk category empty once again in his third start.
Wrap Up
This series will be a fun one to watch because even though the Mariners haven’t played well to start the year they have a very good pitching staff and one of the best players in all of baseball in Julio Rodriguez. If the Cubs pitching staff can keep Julio quiet along with Mitch Garver and Cal Raleigh I think they have a very good chance of winning all three games and completing a sweep of the Mariners. MY Predictions: Shota Imanaga gets double-digit strikeouts while pitching into the 7th earning his second career win without issuing a walk. Nico Hoerner breaks out this series hitting over .350 with a a pair of doubles and driving in four runs. Seiya Suzuki hits two home runs and drives in six this weekend. Final Prediction Julio Rodriguez gets his first home run of the season against Jordan Wicks Friday night and then hits another one Sunday in a losing effort. The Cubs sweep the series and outscore the Mariners 14-8.
