Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Sunday 10/2, 1:20 CT

Oct 2, 2022 - 4:30 PM

Sunday notes...

• ATTENDANCE WATCH: The Cubs have announced 2,586,751 tickets sold through 80 dates. With one date remaining today, they will cross the 2.6 million mark with a bit to spare. The last time the Cubs announced fewer than 2.6 million tickets sold was 1997. In order to not have the lowest attendance since then (2,623,194 in 1998), the Cubs would have to have 36,443 tickets sold for Sunday’s game, which is unlikely.
• HE’S HOT: Seiya Suzuki, last 21 games since August 27: .347/.417/.587 (26-for-75) with four doubles, a triple, four home runs and 13 runs scored.
• SO IS HE: Christopher Morel, last 11 games since September 19: .280/.400/.760 (7-for-25) with three doubles, three home runs and five walks.
• GREAT PITCHING: Cubs starting pitchers have posted a 3.01 ERA (113 earned runs in 338⅓ innings) since the All-Star break, the third-best mark in the majors. Overall over the last 10 games the Cubs pitching staff has a 1.74 ERA (19 earned runs in 98 innings), best in the majors during that span.
• RUN PREVENTION: During the current homestand, the Cubs have allowed two or fewer runs in all five games, their longest stretch since they also did it in five straight games from September 14-18, 2018.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Marcus Stroman, RHP vs. Chase Anderson, RHP

This will be Marcus Stroman’s final start of 2022 and he’s finishing the year strong, especially at Wrigley Field, where he had struggled early this year.

Stroman in 14 starts since July 16: 2.88 ERA, 1.119 WHIP. In his last two starts at Wrigley: 14 innings, seven hits, two runs (1.29 ERA), three walks, 11 strikeouts.

Here’s to one last start before the home crowd that sends us all home happy.

Here is Chase Anderson’s transaction log for this year (via baseball-reference.com):

Busy guy! He made 27 appearances (16 starts) in the Tigers and Rays minor league system and has made seven appearances (six starts) for the Reds, posting a 4.70 ERA and 1.087 WHIP.

We used to see him quite a bit when he was with the Brewers (2016-19), but he has not faced the Cubs since 2019, which means most current Cubs haven’t faced him. Willson Contreras, though, has hit him well: 10-for-17 (.588) with five doubles and two home runs. Could make for a good possible final hurrah for Willson as a Cub at Wrigley.

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Reds site Red Reporter. If you do go there to interact with Reds fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2022 Game Thread procedure will be like last years, similar to what we’ve used for Spring Training.

You’ll find the game preview posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game, including the First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread, as well as the recap when it’s published. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread in the box marked “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at 90 minutes after the scheduled game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.