Chicago Cubs vs. San Francisco Giants preview, Friday 6/9, 9:15 CT

SAN FRANCISCO — Today’s roster move: Here

Friday notes...

• REASON FOR HOPE TONIGHT?: The Cubs are 160-198 in all games at San Francisco, but they are 63-56 in first games of series there, including 20-18 when they have arrived from Los Angeles. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• NO MORE STAYING UP LATE: After tonight, there is just one more late night start for a Cubs game this year (defined as 8:30 CT/9:30 ET or later): Friday, September 15 at Arizona (8:40 CT/9:40 ET).
• DANSBY FOR THE DEFENSE: Dansby Swanson has gone 44 consecutive games at shortstop since April 20 without committing an error (152 total chances). The franchise record for such things is 60 games, set by (ready for this?) Mick Kelleher from September 7, 1976-August 21, 1979. (Kelleher did make errors at other positions during that span, but none at shortstop.)
• THE WALK WATCH: The Cubs have 234 walks through 62 games, which is third in MLB behind the Padres and Dodgers. That’s 3.77 per game, a pace for 611. The franchise record is 656, set in 2016.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Giants lineup:

Also of interest for tonight’s game:

Marcus Stroman, RHP vs. Anthony DeSclafani, RHP

Marcus Stroman is having the best year of his career. Last four starts: 0.93 ERA, 0.690 WHIP. He hasn’t allowed an earned run over his last 20 innings.

He also had one of his best starts last year in San Francisco, July 29, 2022: six shutout innings, eight hits, one walk. The Cubs could use another one of those tonight.

Anthony DeSclafani was injured most of 2022 (ankle). This year he started out well, but over his last six starts: 6.12 ERA, 1.485 WHIP. That includes being torched for six runs (five earned) in three innings in his last start June 4 vs. the Orioles.

The last time he faced the Cubs was pre-2021 selloff, June 3, and just two Cubs of the 13 who played in that game are still on the team (Ian Happ, Patrick Wisdom). We used to see DeSclafani fairly often when he pitched for the Reds, but that’s his only outing against the Cubs since he’s been with the Giants.

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 Giants site McCovey Chronicles. If you do go there to interact with Giants 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.