Still Looking For A Win: Cubs vs. Braves Preview, Thursday 4/8, 6:10 CT

If you're worried about the bullpen -- and there's definitely some cause for concern -- the Cubs share your concern. They're going to be keeping their eyes on John Gaub and Jeff Gray, in particular, at Iowa, to see if they can help the big club.

Speaking of Iowa, last night they were supposed to play the University of Iowa Hawkeyes in an exhibition game, but it was rained out. They'll open their season tonight in chilly but clear conditions against Nashville. If anyone's at that game (I think at least one person posted they would be), please post about your experience, with photos if you have any (I know many of us would like to see pics of Ryne Sandberg's Iowa managerial debut).

Finally, an important announcement -- as of this afternoon, all the SBN baseball blogs, including BCB, are in partnership with FanGraphs, a site I know many of you check out often for statistical content. There will be FanGraphs headlines on our right sidebar, and BCB stories related to player and Cubs team pages will appear on FanGraphs. Thanks to our tech and product teams for this partnership.

Today's Starting Pitchers

Randy Wells Cubs vs. Tommy Hanson Braves 12-10 W-L 11-4 3.05 ERA 2.89 104 SO 116 46 BB 46 14 HR 10 vs. Atl -- vs. Cubs

Stats are 2009 season numbers

Tommy Hanson, who finished three spots ahead of Randy Wells in ROY voting, has never faced the Cubs. The only current Cub who has faced him is Chad Tracy (1-for-3).

Randy Wells had one of his best early starts vs. the Braves last year on June 2 at the Ted, when he gave up two runs (one earned) in seven innings, during that stretch when he couldn't buy a win. On July 6 at Wrigley Field, he threw well again and this time beat Atlanta. The only current Brave who has homered off Wells is Nate McLouth, who did it in that July game.

Today's game is on cable: Peachtree TV in Atlanta, and CSN in Chicago (this time, the main CSN channel). It's also being picked up by MLB Network for national coverage. Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Tonight's overflow threads will post at 7:15, 8:15 and 9 pm CDT.

Discuss amongst yourselves.