Chicago Cubs vs. Arizona Diamondbacks preview, Monday 7/23, 7:05 CT

Hooray! No chance of rain tonight!

Notes:

• Once again, I wanted to point out Anthony Rizzo’s amazing run as a leadoff hitter: .556/.658/.815 (15-for-27) with five doubles, a triple, eight walks and two HBP. The Cubs are 6-2 since Rizzo moved to the leadoff spot. This can’t last forever... but why not ride it as long as possible? He'll lead off again tonight.
• The Cubs again came from behind Sunday, their 32nd such win this year. That leads the major leagues.
• The Cubs lead the N.L. in runs, runs per game, walks, BA, OBP and OPS.
• The Cubs’ +111 run differential is the best in the National League. The Dodgers are next-best in the league at +91.
• The Cubs’ 394 walks are an average of 4.02 per game. That’s a pace for 651 for the season. The franchise record is 656, set in 2016. They drew 29 walks in the Cardinals series — almost six per game.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Diamondbacks lineup:

Luke Farrell, RHP vs. Patrick Corbin, LHP

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Luke Farrell has made one start this year, June 23 against the Reds in Cincinnati. It wasn’t very good. Better was his five innings of shutout ball in relief against the Mets June 2 in New York.

I’m not really sure what to expect here. Farrell last pitched a week ago for Iowa, three innings and 65 pitches. I’m sure management is hoping for a longer (and better) outing than that tonight.

Farrell has never faced the Diamondbacks, so there’s that, anyway.

Patrick Corbin is having a very good year for the D-backs. He’s thrown one of only five complete-game shutouts by a N.L. pitcher this year, although his numbers are a bit elevated over his last seven starts: 3.98 ERA, 1.279 WHIP. That’s still pretty decent, though.

Current Cubs are hitting .268 (15-for-56) against Corbin with three home runs (Javier Baez, Ian Happ, Anthony Rizzo). Corbin has weird reverse splits this year. RH hitters are hitting .193/.245/.300 (69-for-357) against him, while LH batters have a .272/.362/.467 (25-for-92) line against him.

This will be a tough one. The Cubs are 17-6 against LH starters this year, so there’s that, anyway.

Today’s game is on NBC Sports Chicago. It’s also on ESPN (no blackouts). ESPN announcers: Adnan Virk, Eduardo Perez and Tim Kurkjian.

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 2018 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used during 2017. 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.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

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