Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates preview, Monday 7/25, 7:05 CT

Monday notes...

• DOES ANYONE REALLY KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?: Starting with last Friday’s game, the Cubs’ first after the All-Star break, here are the scheduled Cubs game starting times (in Central time) through next Sunday: 6:05, 5:05, 11:05 a.m., 7:05 p.m., 1:20 p.m., 8:45 p.m., 9:15 p.m., 8:05 p.m., 6:08 p.m. — eight different game times. It’s working so far, anyway, with three wins.
• SEIYA!: Seiya Suzuki in 16 games since returning from the injured list: .339/.381/.509 (20-for-59) with a double and three home runs.
• THE MOREL FILES: Christopher Morel’s 26 extra-base hits (13 doubles, four triples, nine home runs) lead all NL rookies.
• WILLSON!: Willson Contreras recorded his 25th career catcher pickoff in Saturday’s game when he got Alec Bohm at first base. Those 25 catcher pickoffs since 2016, his debut season, are far and away the most in the majors. Second, with 13, are his teammate Yan Gomes and Philadelphia’s J.T. Realmuto.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Pirates lineup:

Adrian Sampson, RHP vs. JT Brubaker, RHP

USA TODAY NETWORK

USA TODAY NETWORK

Adrian Sampson has pitched well, given his role: Fifth starter, essentially. He’s gotten into the sixth inning in each of his last four starts, and though those starts have produced a 4.15 ERA, he’s put his team into position to win all of those games (they did win three of the four).

This is his first start in eight days, good considering he threw a career-high 112 pitches in his last outing.

His most recent outing vs. the Pirates was 3⅓ innings of perfect relief (10 batters faced, all retired) September 2, 2021 at Wrigley Field. Of current Pirates hitters, only one (Jake Marisnick, 3-for-6) has more than one hit against him.

JT Brubaker got pounded by the Cubs for six runs May 17 at Wrigley Field. Since then, in 10 starts: 3.10 ERA, 1.414 WHIP, 3.44 FIP. Current Cubs are hitting .263 (20-for-76) against him and Ian Happ is 6-for-18 (.333).

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.