Chicago Cubs vs. Miami Marlins preview, Sunday 8/15, 12:10 CT

Today’s roster move: Here

Sunday notes...

• LOSING STREAKS: Yesterday we looked at all the teams that had two (or more) 10+ game losing streaks in a single season, the club the Cubs were trying, and failing, to avoid joining.

Here are all the teams that have had two or more 11+ game losing streaks in a single season. The Cubs need to win today to avoid joining this group (BTW, it appears I left a couple of these off yesterday’s list):

1902 Giants, 1903 Cardinals, 1909 Braves, 1916 Athletics (three), 1919 Phillies, 1930 Red Sox, 1935 Braves, 1949 Senators, 1962 Mets (three), 1963 Mets, 1996 Tigers, 1998 Marlins, 2002 Orioles, 2003 Tigers, 2004 Diamondbacks, 2006 Royals

Those are among the worst teams in MLB history (the 1916 A’s, 1962 Mets and 2003 Tigers in particular). The Cubs ... well, they look just about that bad. We’ll see after today.

The longest losing streak in Cubs history is 14, set in 1997. That’s ... approaching.

• THE LOSSES OF AUGUST: The Cubs are 1-12 this month and have been outscored 104-51. Apart from the game they won (3-2 over the Rockies August 4), they have had only six other leads in the other 12 games:

1-0 for 2½ innings August 1 in Washington
1-0 for half an inning August 3 in Colorado
1-0 for half an inning August 10 (first game) vs. Brewers
1-0 for half an inning August 10 (second game) vs. Brewers
1-0 for 2½ innings August 14 in Miami
5-4 for half an inning later in the August 14 game

That’s it — no lead more than one run in any of those games.

• YOUR POSITIVE NOTE OF THE DAY: Since the selloff, Rafael Ortega is hitting .451/.500/.745 (23-for-51) with three doubles, four home runs, 11 runs scored and four stolen bases.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Marlins lineup:

Alec Mills, RHP vs. Elieser Hernandez, RHP

It’s really too bad rain came and delayed last Tuesday’s second game, because Alec Mills had shut down the Brewers pretty well in 2⅓ innings, with just one hit and three strikeouts.

Possibly better news: Mills threw five shutout innings against the Marlins June 20 at Wrigley Field, allowing six hits and no walks. As is the case for the Cubs, though, some of those guys are either traded or on the injured list.

This is also not likely good news:

Mills, home games, 2021: 3.06 ERA, 1.189 WHIP in 35⅓ innings
Mills, road games, 2021: 5.45 ERA, 1.624 WHIP in 36⅓ innings

Draw your own conclusions.

Statcast

Elieser Hernandez made one start in April and then missed two months with a bicep injury. He returned for another start in June and suffered a quad injury.

His rehab assignment has gone well and so he was activated for this start. He has never faced the Cubs and only Matt Duffy (0-for-4) and Rafael Ortega (two walks in two PA) have ever faced him.

Clearly, we are doomed.

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Marlins site Fish Stripes. If you do go there to interact with Marlins 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.