Chicago Cubs vs. Arizona Diamondbacks preview, Friday 5/20, 1:20 CT

Friday notes...

• PITCHING, STARTER CATEGORY: Cubs starting pitchers over their last 11 games have walked 17 and struck out 55 while opponents have batted .222 (51-for-230) with a .617 OPS.
• AND DON’T FORGET THE RELIEVERS: Cubs relievers have posted a 2.37 ERA (16 earned runs in 63⅔ innings) since May 1, the best mark in the NL and third in the majors. Overall in 2022, Cubs relievers have posted a 3.00 ERA (51 earned runs in 153 innings), the best mark in the NL and fourth in the majors.
• BUT THE PITCHING HASN’T BEEN ENOUGH: The Cubs have a 2.15 ERA (21 earned runs in 88 innings) over their last 10 games, and even though they have scored 46 runs in those 10 games, they’re just 6-4.
• A SOLID DEBUT: Brandon Hughes has tossed 3⅓ hitless innings to begin his MLB career, with seven strikeouts. He’s the third Cubs reliever since 1980 (also Duane Underwood Jr. and Angel Guzman) to record seven or more strikeouts in his first two career outings.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Diamondbacks lineup:

Kyle Hendricks, RHP vs. Humberto Castellanos, RHP

USA TODAY NETWORK

USA TODAY NETWORK

Kyle Hendricks was a bit shaky against the D-backs last Saturday in Arizona, but still allowed just one run in 5⅔ innings. He’s still trending in the right direction, with a 3.16 ERA over his last five starts and just one run allowed in his last 14⅓ innings.

Just keep up the good work, Kyle.

The Cubs hit Humberto Castellanos pretty well last Sunday in Arizona and scored two runs on a pair of solo homers (Rafael Ortega and Patrick Wisdom). They worked counts and got him out of the game in the sixth inning, so hopefully they can do that again today.

Statcast

Statcast

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 D-backs market territories).

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Diamondbacks site AZ Snakepit. If you do go there to interact with D-backs 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.