Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox preview, Friday 8/27, 7:10 CT

Friday notes...

• STRIKEOUT WATCH vs. WHITE SOX: The Cubs struck out 45 times in the series against the Sox earlier this month at Wrigley Field. If they match that this weekend, that would give them 90, their most against any team this year except the Cubs’ four NL Central rivals.
• STRIKEOUT WATCH SINCE THE SELLOFF: The Cubs have struck out in double figures in 16 of the 25 games since all the deadline trades were made, and have totaled 270 K’s in those 25 games, 10.8 per game. Prior to the trade deadline, the Cubs averaged 9.6 strikeouts per game (994 in 104 games).
• STRIKEOUT WATCH, RECORD-SETTING EDITION: If the Cubs continue striking out at that 10.8 per game pace for the rest of the season, they will strike out 366 more times and have 1,620 for the season. The Cubs already lead MLB in batter strikeouts with 1,264 entering Friday’s action. A season total of 1,620 would not only obliterate the franchise record (1,518 in 2015), but would also break the MLB record (1,595, set by the 2019 Tigers, who finished 47-114).
• STRIKEOUT WATCH, INDIVIDUAL EDITION: For now, Javier Báez still leads the 2021 Cubs in strikeouts with 131. Ian Happ is second with 119, Willson Contreras third with 116 and Patrick Wisdom fourth with 104.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

White Sox lineup:

Also of interest for this series:

Keegan Thompson, RHP vs. Dallas Keuchel, LHP

USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY NETWORK

Keegan Thompson made 27 relief appearances for the Cubs before he was sent down to stretch out to start. His only start since his recall, last Saturday vs. the Royals, was ... okay, I guess, two runs in four innings. He was a bit shaky in the first two innings, allowing a run in each, then settled down. How that translates to tonight... no idea. Thompson threw 73 pitches in that game, perhaps he can be extended to 80 or so tonight.

He has never faced the White Sox and the only Sox player who has faced him is Cesar Hernandez (0-for-2), so there’s that.

Statcast

Dallas Keuchel has had an up-and-down year. He’s had some good starts, but has allowed four or more runs in 10 of his 25 starts, which seems like a lot.

In nine starts since July 1, he’s got a 6.02 ERA and 1.399 WHIP and 11 home runs allowed in 49⅓ innings. That’s definitely bad.

Current Cubs are hitting .221 (15-for-68) against him. Austin Romine is 4-for-10. That’s all I’ve got.

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee. It’s also on NBC Sports Chicago (with the Sox announcers), and available nationally via MLB Network (outside Cubs/White Sox market territory) .

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation White Sox site South Side Sox. If you do go there to interact with Sox 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.