Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Sunday 5/2, 12:10 CT

Sunday notes:

• GO GO NICO!: Since being recalled on April 22, Nico Hoerner has recorded two three-hit games and four multi-hit efforts in his 10 games played. His .375 (12-for-32) BA, .487 OBP and seven walks lead the Cubs since that date.
• THE KRAKEN, NON-SEATTLE VARIETY: in his last 18 outings dating to September 3, 2020, Craig Kimbrel has thrown 18⅓ shutout innings, allowing six hits while walking six and striking out 30 (14.73 strikeouts per nine innings). He has held opponents to an 0.65 WHIP and a .100 BA (6-for-60).
• IT’S THE STARTERS: Cubs starters posted a 3.35 ERA (14 earned runs in 37⅔ innings) in the first seven games of 2021 through April 8, with the team going 4-3, but then produced a 6.70 ERA (66 earned runs in 88⅔ IP) in the last 20 games (8-12).
• HERE’S SOME RELIEF: The Cubs’ bullpen struck out eight batters in their five scoreless innings of work in Saturday’s 3-2 win, allowing only two hits. In doing so, they raised their strikeout per batter faced percentage to 28.0 in 2021, third-best in the N.L. and fifth-best in the major leagues.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Trevor Williams, RHP vs. Tyler Mahle, RHP

USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY NETWORK

Trevor Williams has made five starts this year. Four of them are in the category of “decent to good,” only one was pretty bad. His K rate and walk rate are both good.

So that’s a good base to build on.

Not so much: his outings against the Reds in 2020. Two starts, 6.55 ERA, 1.455 WHIP. Career at GABP: four appearances (three starts), 3.55 ERA, 1.176 WHIP in 17 innings. That’s a bit better.

Williams has generally thrown pretty well so far as a Cub. It’d be nice if he could give the team six solid innings this afternoon.

Tyler Mahle has also made five starts this year, and not allowed more than two runs in any of them, with these good results: 1.75 ERA, 0.974 WHIP.

Last year vs. the Cubs: three starts, 2.55 ERA, 0.849 WHIP. Current Cubs are hitting .172 (19-for-110) against Mahle.

Clearly, we are doomed.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee. Pat Hughes will call play-by-play on Marquee this afternoon.

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.