Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Wednesday 4/5, 11:35 a.m. CT

There’s a chance of rain and storms in the Cincinnati area today, though this forecast says they’ll likely hold off until after today’s game is over.

Just in case, here’s the Cincinnati-area radar:

Wednesday notes...

HAPP-ENINGS: Ian Happ last night became the first Cub with at least three hits and at least two walks in a game since Ben Zobrist on September 5, 2019, in a 10-5 win at Milwaukee. Zobrist had three singles and two walks that night.

The last Cub with two singles, a double and two walks, the same as Happ last night, was . . . Zobrist, on April 14, 2018, in the crazy, wind-swept 14-10 win at home over the Braves.

In between, Addison Russell had a single, a double, a homer and two walks at home against the Marlins on May 9, 2018.

Then, Victor Caratini had two singles, a homer and two walks, and Jason Heyward had a single, two homers and two walks in the same game, a 14-8 win at Milwaukee on April 6, 2019.

Cubs players have had at least three hits and at least two walks in 185 games since 1901, including 34 since 2000. Stan Hack did it eight times; Woody English, six; and Mark Grace, five. Eight more players did it four times, most recently Kosuke Fukudome. Happ is the 74th who has done it once.

(All info above courtesy BCB’s JohnW53.)

• CODY! CODY!: After starting the season 0-for-11 with four strikeouts, Cody Bellinger is 4-for-9 with a home run and NO strikeouts over the first two games of the Reds series.
• NO K’s: The Cubs have struck out just 38 times over their first five games. That ranks tied for 24th in MLB with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Marlins lead MLB with 64, though they have played six games. The most for a team having played five games entering Wednesday’s action is 52 (Tigers).
• YES, K’s!: Cubs pitchers have struck out 51 over their first five games. That ranks tied for fifth in MLB with the Diamondbacks, who have played six games entering Wednesday’s action. Only one team having played five games to date has more: Yankees (60).

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Marcus Stroman, RHP vs. Hunter Greene, RHP

Marcus Stroman had an excellent first start, throwing six shutout innings against the Brewers, striking out eight.

Last year he made two starts vs. the Reds and allowed two runs in 11 innings, with 15 strikeouts.

Sounds like another good outing could be in store.

Hunter Greene threw 83 pitches in just 3⅓ innings in his first 2023 start last week against the Pirates. He struck out eight, but allowed five hits and three runs and Oneil Cruz homered off him.

In three starts and 15 career innings against the Cubs, Greene has struck out 19 — but allowed eight runs for a 4.80 ERA.

You know who Greene reminds me of? Aroldis Chapman. The Reds talked about making a starter out of him but never did, because his pitch arsenal seemed better suited to closing. So does Greene’s — look below, he’s basically a two-pitch pitcher. He’d be a dominant closer. Maybe they’ll eventually figure that out.

(A reminder that the pitch charts below will be from 2022 until pitchers have at least 100 pitches thrown in 2023.)

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee. In some areas this game will be on MLB Network — check local listings.

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.