Chicago Cubs vs. Miami Marlins preview, Wednesday 5/8, 6:35 CT

First, a reminder that tonight’s game will start 30 minutes earlier than usual at 6:35 p.m. CT, in an effort to get it in before heavy rains hit. Game thread times will be adjusted to reflect the new starting time.

Speaking of rain, you will need to keep this handy tonight:

The other big story today is the activation of Addison Russell, being discussed here.

Let’s hope the Cubs and Marlins play a quick-paced game tonight and get everything in before the rain hits. The Cubs, at least, would seem to have the right guy on the mound to accomplish that.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Marlins lineup:

Kyle Hendricks, RHP vs. Jose Urena, RHP

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Hendricks’ last start was probably the best of his career. It’ll be hard to top that one.

He last faced the Marlins one year and one day ago, May 7, 2018 at Wrigley Field and... why am I bothering with that? Only four of the Marlins in that starting lineup are still on the team. Current Marlins are hitting .254 (17-for-67) against Kyle.

Small sample size alert: Hendricks is much worse in two night-game starts (8.68 ERA) than in four day-game starts (2.16 ERA). Maybe that matters; Kyle was slightly better in day games in 2018 (3.15 ERA) than at night (3.61 ERA).

On the other hand, Kyle has an 0.86 ERA in three starts at Wrigley this year, 8.78 in three starts on the road.

So, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The Cubs are known for being a team that takes a lot of HBP (currently leading MLB with 21). Jose Urena led the N.L. in HBP each of the last two years, though he has hit only one batter in 2019.

Urena has made a couple of good starts this year, but the rest have been pretty awful, resulting in a 5.45 ERA and 1.538 WHIP. Anthony Rizzo has done particularly well against him: 5-for-11, two doubles, a home run, three walks, and one HBP.

Today’s game is on WGN.

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 2019 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used in previous years. 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.