Cubs vs. Reds Preview, Saturday 4/19, 1:20 CT

(Not so much) fun with numbers:

Since the beginning of 2010 the Cubs and Reds have played 70 times.

The Reds have won 50 of those games.

At Wrigley Field, the Reds' record since 2010 is 27-9, and 18-3 since the beginning of 2012.

Since 1900, the Cubs have had just five seasons in which they have started worse than the 4-11 of 2014: 1997 (1-14), 1944 and 1981 (2-13), and 1957 and 1966 (3-12). Four other times since 1900 they've equaled this year's 4-11 mark: 1962, 1983, 1994 and 2012.

Many of the worst years in franchise history are in that list.

Just the facts. I told you it wouldn't be much fun.

Cubs lineup:

Bonifacio CF, Lake LF, Rizzo 1B, Ruggiano RF, Castro SS, Olt 3B, Castillo C, Barney 2B, Jackson P

Well, there's a lefthander going, so Mike Olt gets to play. It will be his eighth game started this year. For Justin Ruggiano, start number six.

The Reds lineup was not available at the time I wrote this post. Check the BCB Twitter feed for the Reds lineup.

Today's Starting Pitchers

Edwin Jackson Cubs vs. Tony Cingrani Reds vs. Cin -- vs. Cubs

112 pitchers are qualified for the league leadership in their league so far this year, by innings pitched. Of those, Edwin Jackson ranks 101st in ERA, 100th in ERA+, 108th in WHIP... and 63rd in FIP. So does that mean he's bad, unlucky, or both?

Feel free to answer that question in the comments. I don't expect much improvement from Jackson today.

Tony Cingrani, the Chicago-area native (Lincoln-Way Central in New Lenox), is off to a good start this year, with a 2.60 ERA and 1.096 WHIP, right in line with his 2013 starts for the Reds. He had some trouble against the Cubs last year (4.15 ERA in four starts), but a lot of that was from this September 10 start where he was yanked in the second inning. His other three outings against the Cubs in 2013 were good to excellent.

Current Cubs are 7-for-40 (.175) against Cingrani with one home run (Justin Ruggiano). Draw your own conclusions.

Today's game is on CSN Chicago.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Reds site Red Reporter. The usual caution is advised.

For 2014, we are going to have the same game-thread routine as 2013. Here's how it works.

You'll find the game preview -- like this one -- posting as the first link in the StoryStream™, which will then contain all the overflow threads and the recap. The recap will also be on the front page as a separate post; once I post a game recap, the stream for each game will be retitled "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.

In general, game previews will post two hours before game time. Exception: for day games after night games, that will usually be 90 minutes.

You will also be able to find the First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). They will also appear in this StoryStream™. As I've done for each regular-season game for several years now, we'll have the First Pitch thread at five minutes before game time (moved up from actual game time per your requests), then an overflow one hour, two hours and 2:45 after game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.