Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers preview, Saturday 4/1, 1:20 CT

Apr 1, 2023 - 4:30 PM

Despite the awful weather in Chicago, looks like they're going to get this one in.

Saturday notes...

• UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY: Including Opening Day, the Cubs’ first six games are against division rivals (Brewers and Reds). After that they will play 29 straight games outside the N.L. Central, until the Cardinals come to Wrigley May 8-10.
• OUT LIKE A LAMB: The 4-0 win over the Brewers Thursday was just the 13th game the Cubs have ever played in March. Overall they are 6-7 in games played in March: 1-1 at Wrigley Field (March 31, 2008 and March 30, 2023), 4-5 on the road, and 1-1 in Tokyo, Japan against the Mets (March 29 and 30, 2000). The road games: 1-2 at Texas (March 28-29-30, 2019), 2-2 at Miami (March 29-30-31, 2018 and March 31, 1998), 0-1 at Pittsburgh (March 31, 2014) and 1-0 at the NY Mets (March 31, 2003).
• STRO: Thursday was Marcus Stroman’s third Opening Day start (also 2016 and 2019 for the Blue Jays). In the three openers, he has posted a 1.29 ERA (three earned runs in 21 innings) and a WHIP of 0.905, with 20 strikeouts.
• OPENING DAY: The Cubs threw their first shutout on Opening Day since a 3-0 win over Milwaukee, July 24, 2020. In 148 season openers the Cubs now have a record of 81-65-2. And, the four runs the Cubs scored in the third inning Thursday is the most in a season opener since they scored six runs in the fifth against the Rangers, March 28, 2019.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Brewers lineup:

Justin Steele, LHP vs. Brandon Woodruff, RHP

Justin Steele posted a 2.63 ERA and 1.463 WHIP in four spring starts, for whatever that’s worth.

As you might recall, he missed the last month of the 2022 season with a minor shoulder issue, which is apparently 100 percent now.

He made six starts against the Brewers last year and posted a 2.03 ERA, with 39 strikeouts in 31 innings and just one home run allowed — which is likely the reason he was slotted ahead of Jameson Taillon in the rotation.

Like his teammate Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff had a really good year in 2021, when he finished fifth in N.L. Cy Young voting.

He was good last year, but not quite as good, and some of that showed in the three starts he made against the Cubs, where he posted a 5.28 ERA and averaged only five innings per start.

Current Cubs don’t have too good of a record against him — just a .174 BA (16-for-92), though Ian Happ (twice), Dansby Swanson (once) and Tucker Barnhart (once) have all homered off him.

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

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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.