Preview for the April 26th Game

Preview for the April 26^th Game

Chicago Cubs (7-14) at Miami Marlins (5-17)

The Chicago Cubs will be looking to go up 2-0 in their four game series against the Miami Marlins. The game will be played on Friday at 7:10pm eastern time in Marlins Park. The Cubbies probable pitcher in tonight’s game will be RHP Scott Feldman. Feldman is 0-3 with an era of 4.50 and has yet to really put in a solid performance. Scott Feldman’s last start was his best start, although he did have a crucial error that led to his loss against the Brewers. He went 5 innings allowed one earned run (4 runs total) on three hits (one was a three run homer from Ryan Braun) and three walks. Feldman has been struggling with his command on his pitches this year and needs to pitch less wildly if he wants to have a winning record this season. This start could be Feldman’s breakout start because he will be facing a weak lineup and needs to take advantage of that by not issuing many walks in today’s game.

The Marlins will be sending left-handed pitcher Wade LeBlanc who is 0-3 with an era of 6.27. However, LeBlanc has pitched well in all of his starts except for one against the Washington Nationals when he surrendered seven earned runs which ultimately makes his era misleading. In his other three starts he just gave up two earned runs and can be effective against the Cubbies because he is a lefty. The pitches in LeBlanc’s repertoire is a four seam fastball that is in the high-80s, a two seam fastball that has some movement to it, a changeup that he uses to mix his velocity up and a cutter that he rarely uses.

The Cubs hitters will be going up against a lefty starting pitcher and they usually have a difficult time scoring runs against those types of pitchers. Nate Schierholtz should be in the lineup even though there is a LHP on the mound for the Marlins because he has a batting average of .333 with a RBI against Wade LeBlanc. I believe the Cubbies actually matchup greatly against the LeBlanc because he is a fastball pitcher and the Cubs tend to be fastball hitters.

My prediction for the game is that the Cubs will win their second game in as many days by a score of 6 to 3. I believe that Scott Feldman will struggle again, but will get his first win as a Cubbie by going 5 innings allowing 3 runs and will give up too many free passes. However, the Cubs hitters will have Feldman’s back and give him enough run support to win the game. My predicted player of the game is Starlin Castro because he is a fastball hitter and I predict that he will go 3 for 5 with a couple extra base hits, one being a homerun.