On The Horizon: Cubs vs. Brewers Series Preview

The Cubs took two of three from the Brewers in Milwaukee a bit more than a week ago.

Since then, the Brewers have won five of six, sweeping a two-game set from the Blue Jays in Toronto and taking three of four from the Reds in Cincinnati. (Yes, it would seem that the Reds in first place is a mirage that will soon disappear.)

A lot of this winning is being created by Eric Thames, who spent the last three seasons crushing KBO pitching in Korea. That league is supposed to be equivalent to about Double-A, so it was an open question whether Thames could do the same on returning to MLB, where he hadn’t played since 2012.

So far? Yes. Thames is hitting .368/.455/.921. Yes, that’s a .921 slugging percentage, which leads all major leagues. His six HR and 1.376 OPS also leads MLB. Small sample size, of course — just 44 plate appearances. We’ll see if he can sustain this for a full season.

Fun fact

The Brewers lead the N.L. with 22 home runs. They’ve allowed the second-fewest homers in the league, just 10. Hopefully, Cubs pitchers and hitters can turn those numbers around this week.

Pitching matchups

Monday: John Lackey (1-1, 3.00 ERA, 1.250 WHIP, 2.43 FIP) vs. Chase Anderson (1-0, 0.69 ERA, 0.769 WHIP, 3.16 FIP)

Tuesday: Brett Anderson (1-0, 0.84 ERA, 1.219 WHIP, 3.21 FIP) vs. Jimmy Nelson (1-0, 1.38 ERA, 0.846 WHIP, 2.62 FIP)

Wednesday: Kyle Hendricks (1-1, 5.73 ERA, 1.273 WHIP, 4.48 FIP) vs. Tommy Milone (1-0, 7.36 ERA, 1.272 WHIP, 4.29 FIP)

Times & TV channels

Monday: 7:05 p.m. CT, CSN Chicago Plus

Tuesday: 7:05 p.m. CT, WGN

Wednesday: 1:20 p.m. CT, WGN, MLB Network (outside Chicago and Milwaukee markets)

Prediction

We missed an Anderson vs. Anderson matchup in this series by just one day. Perhaps that will happen sometime later in the season. For this series, the Cubs will recover from the Pirates sweep and take two of three from the Brewers.

Up next

The Cubs travel to Cincinnati for their first 2017 meeting with the Reds, a three-game series that begins Friday night.