Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Wednesday 5/25, 5:40 CT

Today’s roster move: Here

This weather forecast might not be conducive to baseball in Cincinnati tonight. So, here’s the local radar to keep handy.

Wednesday notes...

• PATTY SMARTS AND THE TANK: Patrick Wisdom and Frank Schwindel are the first pair of Cubs to combine for eight homers in five games since Ian Happ and Kyle Schwarber did it from August 28-September 1, 2020.
• MORE TANK: Frank Schwindel homered twice last night to extend the Cubs’ multi-homer streak to five games. The last time the Cubs went six or more consecutive games with multiple long balls was May 22-29, 2019 when they had an eight-game streak.
• THE STARTERS: Cubs starting pitchers have posted a 3.48 ERA (33 earned runs in 85⅓ innings) in the team’s last 16 games since May 8, allowing more than three runs only twice ... the 3.48 ERA during that span is third-lowest in the NL. Over those last 16 games Cubs starters have walked 26 and struck out 78 while the opponents’ BA is .230 (73-for-317).
• THE RELIEVERS: Overall in 2022, Cubs relievers have posted a 3.29 ERA (63 earned runs in 172⅓ innings), the third-lowest in the NL, and the Cubs bullpen leads the majors this season with 202 strikeouts and is third with 10.55 strikeouts per nine innings.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Kyle Hendricks, RHP vs. Luis Castillo, RHP

USA TODAY NETWORK

USA TODAY NETWORK

Which Kyle Hendricks do we get tonight? The guy who nearly threw a complete-game shutout against the Padres? Or the guy who got hit hard by the Diamondbacks last Friday?

One thing is for sure. GABP is not the best place for Kyle to get back on track. He has a lifetime 5.75 ERA in 12 starts there, which is his worst at any ballpark where he’s started more than five times.

Good luck, Kyle. He does have an undefeated starting catcher with him tonight. (Yes, I’m joking. Mostly.)

Luis Castillo had a late start to his 2022 season due to some shoulder issues and didn’t pitch at all in April. His three May starts have been bad, mediocre and good, so he might be rounding into form.

Last year he made three starts vs. the Cubs and posted a 4.41 ERA and 1.592 WHIP. Most of that was against Cubs who are no longer with the team. No current Cubs position player has any career at-bats against Castillo.

We’ll see who gets the better of these first matchups.

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 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 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.