Chicago Cubs vs. Kansas City Royals preview, Saturday 8/19, 1:20 CT

Today's roster move: Here

Saturday notes...

• THROWING THIS OUT FOR DISCUSSION: The Cubs’ two runners thrown out on the bases Friday raised their season total to 41, sixth most among all 30 teams. The Reds have 55; the Guardians, 50. The average of the 29 other teams is 35. The Cubs’ breakdown: 13 runners out at home, 13 at third, 10 at second and five at first. The outs on the bases include runners doubled off on line drives, trying for second on a hit as Nico Hoerner did Friday and trying to advance on a ball that gets past the catcher. They do not include pickoffs or caught stealing. Cubs runners have been picked off three times and caught stealing 23. Last year, the Cubs made 68 outs on base, second to the Rays’ 73. They were picked off 5 times and caught stealing 37, also second, to the Rangers’ 41.
• HE’S HOT: Nico Hoerner, last 21 games since July 25: .333/.423/.500 (28-for-84) with five doubles, three home runs, 10 walks and 17 runs scored. He’s also working on a 15-game on-base streak.
• ALSO HOT: Jeimer Candelario, 14 games as a Cub: .396/.482/.563 (19-for-48) with five doubles, a home run, eight walks and nine runs scored.
• GOOD PITCHING: Michael Fulmer, last 31 appearances since May 28: 1.60 ERA, 1.040 WHIP, .171 opponents BA, 37 strikeouts in 33⅔ innings.
• SITE NOTE: I am invited to an annual bleacher BBQ after today’s game. So, today’s recap will be delayed an hour or so after its normal posting time for a home game.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Royals lineup:

Justin Steele, LHP vs. Brady Singer, RHP

Justin Steele hasn’t been quite as crisp since the All-Star break than before, but in six starts since the break he has a 3.38 ERA and 1.471 WHIP, which is still pretty decent.

He has never faced the Royals or anyone on their active roster. Hopefully that’ll be to his advantage. These numbers are often random, but Steele’s ERA is almost a run better in day games (14 starts, 2.43) than night games (eight starts, 3.35). Maybe it matters, maybe it doesn’t. As always, we await developments.

Brady Singer was the Royals’ first-round selection in 2018 (18th overall) out of the University of Florida, chosen six picks ahead of Nico Hoerner.

His MLB career so far has been middling. Last year he was pretty good (4.5 bWAR), this year not so much. He has been throwing better lately after a bad start. Over his last 14 starts: 3.44 ERA, 1.135 WHIP.

Singer’s only career start vs. the Cubs was August 4, 2020 and just one Cub remains on the team who faced him, Ian Happ (0-for-1, a walk). Nick Madrigal is 4-for-8 against Singer and Jeimer Candelario is 7-for-16 (.353) with two doubles and three walks.

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. You can find out if Marquee is available via a provider in your area here.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Royals site Royals Review. If you do go there to interact with Royals 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.