Chicago Cubs vs. Los Angeles Dodgers preview, Thursday 7/7, 9:10 CT

Thursday notes...

• THE CUBS ARE HOT: Since June 21, the Cubs are 9-5. That’s the third-best record in the National League over that span (the Dodgers, 11-4, and Braves, 10-4, are better). The Cubs’ 82 runs scored in that stretch are the most in the NL.
• MORE ON THOSE LAST 14 GAMES: Cubs batters are hitting .278/.361/.455 over those 14 games, with 16 home runs, and Cubs pitchers have a 3.28 ERA and 1.217 WHIP, with 145 strikeouts in 129 innings.
• HE’S HOT: Rafael Ortega, last 16 games since June 18: .298/.397/.553 (14-for-47) with four doubles, a triple, two home runs and eight walks.
• THE SCORING PROBLEM IN A NUTSHELL: The Cubs have had 905 plate appearances with runners in scoring position, the most among NL clubs and second in the majors (Boston, 915). So the Cubs have had a lot of RISP chances, but have hit .223 (169-for-757) in that situation this season, the second-lowest mark in the majors, ahead of only the Pirates (.201).

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Dodgers lineup:

Also of interest for this series (time listed is ET):

Mark Leiter Jr., RHP vs. Tony Gonsolin, RHP

Well, yikes. This sure looks like a mismatch, an emergency starter who hasn’t thrown all that well against a guy who is the likely NL All-Star starting pitcher and a strong Cy Young candidate.

About the only thing I can say is this. Mark Leiter Jr.’s last four outings have produced the following results: 2.92 ERA, 1.054 WHIP, 15 strikeouts in 12⅓ innings, .205 opponents BA. That’s actually... good, in a small sample size. He hasn’t faced the Dodgers since 2017, and in another small sample size, current Dodgers are 4-for-22 against him, all singles.

So... maybe?

The Dodgers have won the last seven games Tony Gonsolin has started and in those games have outscored opponents 29-9. In those starts, Gonsolin has a 1.48 ERA and 0.680 WHIP and has limited opponents to a .149 BA.

His only career start vs. the Cubs was June 25, 2021, against the pre-selloff players, who got only one hit off him. That’s largely irrelevant, since the only hit was a homer by Kris Bryant.

I’m not expecting much here, but the Cubs just did defeat another very good starter, Corbin Burnes. Maybe they’ll surprise us.

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 Dodgers site True Blue LA. If you do go there to interact with Dodgers 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.