Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Thursday 5/26, 11:35 a.m. CT

Once again, it’s possible inclement weather will interrupt this game, so here’s the area radar for you to keep handy:

Thursday notes...

• DOUBLING THEIR PLEASURE: The Cubs hit two doubles in Wednesday night’s game and now have had extra-base hits in 43 consecutive games at Great American Ball Park. The 43 games is the longest such streak at GABP in Cubs franchise history. The previous longest run was 42 games from September 5, 2008 to September 11, 2013.
• SCORING FIRST: The Cubs have scored first in their last five games, going 3-2 in those games. In 43 games this season, they have notched the first run in 28 and have a record of 16-12 in those games. The 28 games in which they have scored first ranks second behind the Mets (29 games).
• DOES HE GET A GOLD WATCH?: As of today, Andrelton Simmons has logged 10 years of MLB Service time. One other Cub has reached that milestone this year: Drew Smyly.
• WORDS OF WISDOM: Patrick Wisdom reached his one-year mark as a major leaguer yesterday. In that calendar year, Wisdom is tied for second in home runs (38) among all MLB players with Bryce Harper. Only Pete Alonso (42) has more since May 25, 2021.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Old friend alert: Albert Almora Jr. in the Reds lineup today.

Justin Steele, LHP vs. Hunter Greene, RHP

Could it be that Justin Steele has finally established himself as a good starting pitcher in the major leagues?

It’s only two starts, but his last two have been outstanding: four hits and one run allowed in 11 innings, with 19 strikeouts.

Last year he made two relief appearances and two starts vs. the Reds and the results weren’t good: 6.00 ERA, 1.500 WHIP in 12 innings. But he seems like a different pitcher now, and no current Reds batter has more than six career AB against him.

Hunter Greene was a highly-touted No. 1 pick of the Reds in 2017 (second overall pick). He pitched briefly (and not well) in their system in 2017 and 2018 and then had Tommy John surgery and didn’t return to the mound until last year.

His first five starts weren’t good, but the last three: 1.93 ERA, 1.018 WHIP, 21 strikeouts in 18⅔ innings. That included allowing no hits to the Pirates May 15, though Pittsburgh won anyway.

He’s still got a high walk rate (five per nine innings) and leads the NL with 12 home runs allowed. As you can see by the graphic below, he throws HARD — averaging 98 on his fastball. In one game alone in April he threw 39 pitches at least 100 miles per hour. Yikes.

He’s never faced the Cubs or anyone on the Cubs’ active roster. So this will be interesting.

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 Reds market territories).

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.