Chicago Cubs vs. San Diego Padres preview, Thursday 9/12, 2:40 CT

Notes for Thursday:

• THE SCHWARBINO: Kyle Schwarber, last 16 games since August 25: .304/.371/.732 (17-for-56) with four doubles, a triple, six home runs, 15 RBI and 10 runs.
• THE NEW GUY: Nicholas Castellanos, last 22 games since August 18: .330/.340/.670 (31-for-94) with five doubles, nine home runs, 20 RBI and 17 runs.
• J-HEY: Jason Heyward, last six games: .368/.500/.895 (7-for-19) with a double, three home runs, five walks and five runs.
• BOTE McBOATFACE: David Bote, last 18 games since August 4: .433/.564/.633 (13-for-30) with three doubles, a home run, eight walks and eight runs.

I realize I am cherry-picking here. But if the Cubs have four guys who are this hot, why are they only 20-18 since August 1?

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

THANK YOU! Just leave Anthony Rizzo in the leadoff spot the rest of the year, please.

Padres lineup:

Yu Darvish, RHP vs. Dinelson Lamet, RHP

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Yu Darvish has been nothing short of spectacular since the All-Star break: 10 starts, 2.69 ERA, 0.796 WHIP, four (!) walks and 79 (!) strikeouts in 60⅓ innings.

Darvish did not pitch in the series vs. the Padres at Wrigley Field. His last start against them was September 25, 2017, when he was with the Dodgers: seven innings, two hits, one run, no walks, nine strikeouts. I’ll take another one of those, please.

Dinelson Lamet had a rough start to this season, but his last six starts have been pretty good: 3.18 ERA, 1.176 WHIP, 44 strikeouts in 34 innings.

For the third straight game, the Cubs will be facing a pitcher they have never seen before. Per Fangraphs, Lamet relies mostly on offspeed stuff, particularly his slider, though he can dial up his fastball to as high as 96.

Today’s game is on NBC Sports Chicago. If you have “cut the cord,” NBC Sports Chicago games can be streamed in the Cubs’ market territory via Fubo. Sign up for Fubo here.

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 Padres site Gaslamp Ball. If you do go there to interact with Padres fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

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.