Chicago Cubs vs. Colorado Rockies preview, Friday 6/9, 1:20 CT

Seth Frankoff, who the Cubs added to the 40-man roster Thursday, also joined the 25-man roster when Kyle Hendricks was placed on the disabled list.

Frankoff could be an unlikely success story. He was a 27th-round pick of the Athletics in 2010 and has yet to appear in the big leagues. The Cubs signed him to a minor-league deal last November after he spent 2016 in the Dodgers organization. He's posted a 2.77 ERA and 0.940 WHIP in 11 appearances (nine starts) at Triple-A Iowa with 59 strikeouts in 55⅓ innings.

Just two other players chosen in that 2010 round have played in the major leagues: Alex Claudio, a reliever for the Rangers, and Brandon Cunniff, who pitched briefly for the Braves in 2015 and 2016. The Cubs' pick in that round, Bryce Harper's brother Bryan Harper, didn't sign with the Cubs and was picked the following year by the Nationals. He's now out of baseball.

Here's hoping for better than that for Seth Frankoff, who's thrilled about coming to the big leagues for the first time:

Words can't describe the emotions I felt putting on a @Cubs uniform for the 1st time tonight. Thank y'all for the kind&thoughtful comments!

— Seth Frankoff (@frankoff34) June 9, 2017

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Happ CF, Bryant 3B, Rizzo 1B, Zobrist 2B, Heyward RF, Baez SS, Montero C, Montgomery P, Schwarber LF

Here is today's #Cubs starting lineup.

Game preview: https://t.co/HcHkGAylEz pic.twitter.com/hmzly0NcKw

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 9, 2017

Rockies lineup:

Blackmon CF, LeMahieu 2B, Arenado 3B, Reynolds 1B, Gonzalez RF, Desmond LF, Story SS, Hanigan C, Marquez P

Mike Montgomery vs. German Marquez

Mike Montgomery has been solid in long relief this year, posting two saves of 3⅓ innings or longer, including one last Monday.

He is making his first start since September 15, 2016, when he threw six innings against the Brewers and allowed three runs (one earned) with one walk and seven strikeouts.

That would be a good result from today's outing. Montgomery's issue has always been command and control. Despite generally good results this year, he's walked 20 in 36⅔ innings. That's 4.9 walks per nine, above his career rate of 3.8.

If he can keep the walks down, he could do well today.

German Marquez threw eight shutout innings against the Cubs May 10 in Denver. That can't happen again... can it?

My guess is "probably not." Marquez has a 4.15 ERA and 1.569 WHIP since then in four starts. He has a lifetime 4.99 ERA in seven appearances (five starts) away from Coors Field.

At least the Cubs have seen this guy before. Maybe that experience will help.

Today's game is on CSN Chicago. It’s also on MLB Network (outside the Chicago and Denver markets).

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

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The 2017 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used during 2016. Here's how it works.

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. The First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads will be published in that stream, as well as the recap. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post, and at the time I write the recap I will rename the stream "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread, all the overflow threads and recap 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 the game's StoryStream as noted above.

The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at one hour, two hours and 2:45 after the scheduled game time.

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Discuss amongst yourselves.