Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Friday 4/30, 6:10 CT

Today’s roster move: Here

Friday notes:

• GOOD, THEN YIKES: Cubs starters posted a 3.35 ERA (14 earned runs in 37⅔ innings) in the first seven games of 2021 through April 8 but have produced a 6.42 ERA (58 earned runs in 81⅓ innings) in the last 18 games.
• STEALING AWAY: The Cubs rank third in the NL with 16 stolen bases (five caught stealing) and reached 16 steals in their 25th game of the season last night. They had only five steals through 25 team games in 2020 and did not steal their 16th base until game No. 51 last year.
• THEY HIT, SOMETIMES: In the Cubs’ 11 wins, the team has averaged 7.4 runs per game (81 runs total) with 22 home runs, a .279 average (102-for-365) with a .367 OBP, .532 slugging mark and an .899 OPS.
• AND SOMETIMES THEY DON’T: In the Cubs’ 14 losses, the team has averaged 1.9 runs per game (27 runs total) with nine home runs, a .157 average (68-for-433) with a .253 OBP, .261 slugging mark and a .513 OPS.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Also (time listed is Eastern):

Jake Arrieta, RHP vs. Wade Miley, LHP

USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY NETWORK

Jake Arrieta has been consistently good all year. After not throwing more than 89 pitches in his first four starts, he threw 101 against the Brewers Sunday and allowed just two hits (and three walks) in six innings. He’s by far been the Cubs’ best starter in 2021.

Amazingly enough, Jake did not face the Reds at all in his three years with the Phillies. His last start against them (also his last at GABP) was August 24, 2017, while with the Cubs. He allowed one unearned run in 5⅔ innings, but the bullpen blew the game. Only a handful of those Reds are still on the team.

One of those is Joey Votto, who is 8-for-22 (.364) lifetime vs. Jake with two doubles and two home runs. But then, that was “old” Votto — not sure current Votto is as good.

Also, congrats to Jake on making it to 10 years of MLB service!

Wade Miley faced the Cubs once last year, July 27 in Cincinnati, and they hit him hard: four hits, two walks, six runs in 1⅔ innings. Miley hit the IL with a groin strain after that start.

This year he’s been pretty good in four starts, though he’s allowed six runs (two home runs) in 11 innings over his last two outings.

Kris Bryant is the best Cubs hitter vs. Miley: 6-for-14 (.429), a double, a home run.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee. It’s also on MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Reds market territories).

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Reds site Red Reporter. If you do go there to interact with Reds 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 2021 Game Thread procedure will be a bit different than previous years. It will be similar to what we’ve used for Spring Training.

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, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game, including the First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread, as well as the recap when it’s published. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread in the box marked “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at 90 minutes after the scheduled game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.