Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Tuesday 4/4, 5:40 CT

Tuesday notes...

• HE’S HOT: Dansby Swanson has reached base 11 times in 18 plate appearances so far this year (.611 OBP), with 10 hits (eight singles and two doubles) and a walk.
• MORE DANSBY: Swanson is the first Cub in the Modern Era to make at least three hits in three of the team’s first four games of a season. Twenty-two others had a pair of three-hit games. The three who did it this century were Aramis Ramirez (2007), Starlin Castro (2011) and Emilio Bonifacio (2014). Ernie Banks and Billy Williams each did it in two seasons. Among others who did it once: Hack Wilson, Phil Cavarretta, Hank Sauer and Mark Grace. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• HE’S HOT: Keegan Thompson has faced 15 batters so far this year and retired 13 of them, allowing just one single and a walk for a WHIP of 0.462.
• HE’S NOT: Cody Bellinger is just 1-for-15 so far as a Cub. The one hit, though, was a three-run homer Monday night, his first Cubs home run.
• THE HAPPER: Ian Happ went 1-for-4 (a double) Monday night in Cincinnati. Career at GABP: .311/.410/.723 (46-for-148) with 11 doubles, a triple and 16 home runs.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Hayden Wesneski, RHP vs. Luis Cessa, RHP

Major League Baseball

USA TODAY NETWORK

Hayden Wesneski had a good spring, posting a 2.12 ERA in five starts and striking out 22 in 17 innings.

Last year he faced the Reds twice, including five outstanding relief innings in his MLB debut September 6. Overall vs. Cincinnati: 11 innings, six hits, one run (0.82 ERA), two walks, 14 strikeouts.

This could be a good day for the Cubs.

Luis Cessa hadn’t started a game since 2018 when the Reds pressed him into service for 10 starts last year. He did an okay job — 4.30 ERA, 1.227 WHIP — but he had a 5.14 ERA and allowed three home runs in 14 innings against the Cubs. Ian Happ and Eric Hosmer have previously homered against Cessa.

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 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 2023 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.