Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates preview, Tuesday 6/21, 6:05 CT

Tuesday notes...

• THE ROOKIES NEED MORE WORK, PART 1: The Cubs have used 10 rookie pitchers this year. They have combined to appear in 73 games (8 starts) with a 2-9 record, 5.25 ERA (65 earned runs in 111⅓ innings), 50 walks and 127 strikeouts.
• THE ROOKIES NEED MORE WORK, PART 2: The Cubs have used five rookie position players this year. They have combined for 133 game appearances with a .248 average (106-for-427) with 23 doubles, five triples, 13 homers and 58 RBI.
• BUT!: Christopher Morel’s .462 slugging percentage ranks fifth and his .790 OPS ranks sixth among all major league rookies (minimum 130 at-bats).
• HAPP-ENINGS: Ian Happ, last 19 games since May 31: .382/.463/.618 (26-for-68) with six doubles, two triples, two home runs and 10 walks.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Pirates lineup:

Matt Swarmer, RHP vs. Roansy Contreras, RHP

Matt Swarmer made two pretty good starts to begin his MLB career and then got hit pretty hard by the Yankees and Padres in his last two outings.

As you can see below, he relies heavily on his slider, which is very good. Like this one:

However, if Swarmer is going to be successful in MLB, he’s going to have to be more than a two-pitch pitcher. (Or, maybe his future is in the bullpen, where you can get away with that.)

He’s never faced the Pirates or anyone on their active roster.

When Roansy Contreras faced the Cubs in his MLB debut last September, Willson Contreras went 1-for-2 against him, for what that’s worth. The two are not related.

Roansy’s numbers are decent this year, but his last two starts: six earned runs and two home runs in nine total innings. Let’s hope the Cubs keep him going in that direction.

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.