Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates preview, Saturday 4/23, 1:20 CT

Saturday notes...

• FIRST BASE DEFENSE: Friday night, Cubs first baseman Frank Schwindel turned his fourth 3-6-3 double play of the 2022 season, the most among major league first basemen. Jesus Aguilar of the Marlins has two such double plays, the only other first baseman to have more than one.
• AGAINST THE BUCS: Schwindel is a lifetime .356/.431/.578 (16-for-45) hitter vs. Pittsburgh in 11 career games, with three home runs. Nico Hoerner, who had three hits Friday, has a .353/.400/.490 (18-for-51) career mark vs. the Pirates with two home runs.
• THE CLOSE ONES: Of the Cubs’ 14 games so far this year, 11 have been decided by three or fewer runs. The Cubs are 5-6 in those games. That’s tied for the most such games in MLB this year with the Rockies.
• STREAKING: The Cubs have scored at least one run in 60 consecutive games dating back to August 12, 2021. That’s the longest stretch for the team since they scored in 71 straight from May 11-July 31, 2019. That stretch is also the longest active streak among all MLB teams.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Pirates lineup:

Kyle Hendricks, RHP vs. Zach Thompson, RHP

USA TODAY NETWORK

USA TODAY NETWORK

This is a pitching rematch of the game April 13 in Pittsburgh. It was not a good game for Kyle Hendricks, who allowed six runs and did not complete the fourth inning.

Needless to say, we hope for better this afternoon.

Zach Thompson allowed two Cubs runs in four innings April 13, and then got pounded by the Brewers April 18 in Milwaukee — six hits, four walks and six runs in four innings.

Here’s hoping for the Cubs to do that this afternoon.

Statcast

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 Pirates site Bucs Dugout. If you do go there to interact with Pirates 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 2022 Game Thread procedure will be like last years, 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.