Hamels, Lester, Hendricks, and Darvish to Fry Fish
By: Dan Schmuldt
Tags: Chicago Cubs, Sports, Baseball, Major League Baseball, MLB

Well, saying that probable pitchers look good to roll through the Marlins isn’t necessarily a stretch for any 5-man in baseball, HOWEVER, the Cubs 4 is a particularly interesting case. You may say, “oh, Dan you say everything about the Cubs is an interesting case.” All I can say to that is yeah, I do. And you’re still here reading it, so get over it.

I’ll just break down why this is an interesting and important start for each guy going this week because why the hell not. It’s Monday before a game and a full-on series preview over the Marlins isn’t groundbreaking writing by any means.

Cole Hamels

Hamels has posted a pretty solid start to his 2019 campaign posting a 3.19 through 6 starts to a tune of 3 wins. To be fair, the Cubs have won the last five that Cole’s started, but he got knocked around pretty good in his last 2 times out. Hamels totals 9 walks in those last two outings countering his 0 walks in the three starts before that. This one might be a nice refresher for Cole Hamels to work corners and get some feel for his stuff against a team that stinks pretty bad — definitely a good team to tune up some stuff against before his matchup with the Brewers who come to town this weekend.

Jon Lester

Honestly this is probably the least intriguing start as ole Steel Balls has been rolling all of 2019. This is gonna be one to get the the wing going before he takes game 3 against Milwaukee. Go Jon, you fucking cowboy.

Kyle Hendricks

Hendricks are Darvish are probably the most interesting starts of this 4-game set. Hendricks is coming off an 81-pitch complete game shutout GEM against the formally first place Cardinals, but struggled big-time early on. Hendricks had an ERA over 5 going into his start vs St. Louis and turned his shitter of an April around. This start is huge to see if Hendricks has actually figured it out and can put it together again. All signs point to Hendricks being himself again and pitching against the MLB’s only AAA team could help him put together a couple of really nice starts back-to-back.

Yu Darvish

Oh Yu, ohhhhhh Yu Darvish. I get so excited for all of Darvish’s starts and get kinda let down almost every time. Yu is rocking a 5.79 ERA on the year and has been walking guys left and right. While swing and miss stuff is his MO, Darvish has been nibbling the plate and walking tons of guys (27 in just 32.2 IP). This is a start that could be a huge confidence builder if utilized correctly. I’ve said it a bunch, and I’m wearing it out, but Yu needs to go out and just pump strikes and fill up the zone from the go. Get strike 1, hell get strike 2, then nibbling a bit. It’s obvious once he walks one Yu is a bit of a headcase, so limiting that as much as possible will help the guy let his stuff work and dominate this year. A start against Miami where all he does is attack could be good for the guy.

Tonight we have Hamels, my favorite Cubs starter so far this year. I can’t wait to see the lefty go to work. I’ll see you all there as the NL Central leading Cubs take on the dead last Marlins. Should be fun.

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