Chicago Cubs vs. Philadelphia Phillies preview, Friday 7/22, 6:05 CT

Friday notes...

• CUBS BATTING LEADERS: HR: Patrick Wisdom, 17. RBI: Wisdom, 46. Runs: Wisdom and Willson Contreras, 48. BA: Nico Hoerner, .307. OBP: Contreras, .366. SLG: Contreras, .455 (Christopher Morel, .477, not enough PA to qualify, would require 285 PA.) OPS: Contreras, .821. SB: Hoerner, 9. bWAR: Hoerner, 3.2. fWAR: Hoerner, 2.8.
• CUBS PITCHING LEADERS: No Cubs pitcher has thrown enough innings to qualify (that would require 92 innings). Rankings here that would require qualifying are given to the pitcher with the most innings. ERA: Keegan Thompson, 3.43. WHIP: Thompson, 1.254. K: Justin Steele, 79. FIP: Steele, 3.40. W: Thompson, 7. Saves: David Robertson, 13. BB/9 ratio: Kyle Hendricks, 2.6. SO/9 ratio: Marcus Stroman, 8.6. HR/9 ratio: Steele, 0.5. bWAR: Robertson, 2.1. fWAR: Steele, 1.7.
• CUBS MISCELLANEOUS NUMBERS: vs. NL East: 4-6. vs. NL Central: 20-21. vs. NL West: 7-18. vs. AL: 4-12. MLB rank in runs scored: 21st. MLB rank in runs allowed: 26th (fifth-most). MLB rank in HR: 20th (10th most). MLB rank in HR allowed: third-most. MLB rank in pitcher strikeouts: third. MLB rank in walks allowed: 21st (ninth-most).
• ONE LAST SPLIT: Cubs vs. Dodgers, Mets, Orioles, Padres, Rays, White Sox and Yankees: 5-26. Cubs vs. all other teams: 30-31.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Phillies lineup:

Justin Steele, LHP vs. Kyle Gibson, RHP

USA TODAY NETWORK

USA TODAY NETWORK

Justin Steele, since May 1: Seven starts, 2.98 ERA, 3.61 FIP, 1.252 WHIP, only three home runs allowed in 42⅓ innings — which also means he’s averaged six-plus innings per start over that span. That’s MLB quality starting pitching. Keep up the good work!

Steele has never faced the Phillies. The only two Phillies he has faced are former Cubs Nick Castellanos (4-for-8, a home run) and Kyle Schwarber (0-for-2). Castellanos has been slowed by a wrist injury he suffered in May and since May 11 in 62 games is hitting just .226/.261/.311.

Kyle Gibson, since May 1: Eight starts, 4.98 ERA, 5.12 FIP, 1.200 WHIP, eight home runs allowed in 43⅓ innings.

So, Gibson’s been not as good as Steele over that span, though he did throw seven innings and allowed only two hits to the Cardinals July 9.

Last year he faced the Cubs September 14 and Patrick Wisdom and Alfonso Rivas homered off him.

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s game is on Apple TV+ (how to watch).

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Phillies site The Good Phight. If you do go there to interact with Phillies 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 year’s, 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.