Chicago Cubs vs. Texas Rangers preview, Sunday 4/9, 1:20 CT

Sunday notes...

• TAKING ADVANTAGE: The Cubs enter Sunday’s game with the third-best batting average with runners on base, .319 (36-for-113), trailing only the Cardinals (.336) and Rays (.366). They went 4-for-8 with RISP in Saturday’s game.
• HE’S HOT: Patrick Wisdom, last five games: .400/.429/.950 (8-for-20), seven runs scored, two doubles, three home runs.
• THE STARTERS: Cubs starting pitchers have the third-best ERA in MLB through Saturday at 3.13, trailing only the Twins (1.75) and Rays (2.20).
• INTERLEAGUE INTRIGUE: If the Cubs win today they will reach the .500 mark vs. American League teams. They enter Sunday’s action 218-219 all-time against teams from the other league.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Rangers lineup:

Jameson Taillon, RHP vs. Jon Gray, RHP

Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports

Jameson Taillon had a rough outing in his first 2023 start, last Sunday against the Brewers. His last start against the Rangers was the second-to-last regular season game of 2022, October 4 at Texas. He allowed four runs in six innings, striking out five. Hoping for better this afternoon.

Current Rangers are batting .255 (13-for-51) against Taillon. Corey Seager is 4-for-9 with two doubles off him.

Jon Gray had a good first start this year, allowing two runs in 6⅓ innings to the Orioles April 3.

He last faced the Cubs right after the big 2021 Cubs selloff — August 4, 2021 at Colorado. Just to show you how much has changed for the Cubs since then, of the 14 Cubs who played in that game, just two (Ian Happ and Patrick Wisdom) are still on the team. Wisdom went 3-for-4 that day, driving in all three Cubs runs in a 3-2 win.

The current Cub who has hit Gray best, though, is Cody Bellinger: 11-for-23 (.478) with five doubles, a triple and four walks. Hoping for a big day from Bellinger today.

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 Rangers site Lone Star Ball. If you do go there to interact with Rangers 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.