The Cubs have played a combined total of zero games against NL Central opponents, but they’re about to play their sixth against the Dodgers alone. Add in seven against the Diamondbacks and six against the Padres, and you might think Chicago was out west somewhere. Opponents from east of the Mississippi will start up this weekend, which is nice.
At least these games are starting either way too late or way too early, plus the Cubs have off-days sandwiching this two-gamer. That allows Craig Counsell to be a little more aggressive with his bullpen, though the hope is that he won’t need to. Shōta Imanaga may need a better performance tonight than when he faced LA out in Tokyo, a scoreless outing that featured four walks and only two strikeouts over four innings. His 10 walks through five starts are already well over a third of his total from last season (28).
Outside of his effort against the Rangers that saw five runs cross against him, Imanaga has kept his team in every game. More of the same will be needed because the lineup has a tough task in this one. Ian Happ is leading off in left, followed by Kyle Tucker in right and Seiya Suzuki at DH. Michael Busch is at first, Dansby Swanson is at short, Nico Hoerner handles second, and Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center. Miguel Amaya is behind the dish and Gage Workman gets the start at third.
Floppy-mopped ginger Dustin May is on the mound for the fourth time as he looks to make good on the immense promise that has been suppressed by a series of health setbacks over the years. He suffered a torn UCL in 2021, dealt with lower back tightness in ’22, and underwent flexor tendon surgery with a TJ revision in ’23. An esophageal tear prevented him from returning to action last season, but now he’s back healthy for the first time in a very long time. From the looks of it, he might be even better than before.
May’s sinker velocity is sitting around 94 mph, down a few ticks from his early days, but his 85 mph sweeper is as nasty as you’ll find. He spins it better than anyone in the game, boasting a mark of 3,175 rpm that is nearly 100 revs higher than second place (Lucas Sims, 3,094). Only Ryan Pressly‘s 3K banger of a curve (3,204 rpm to be exact) gets more.
Listed at 6-foot-6 and 180 pounds and throwing from a low slot makes May look like Chris Sale and Carrot Top had a right-handed baby. He makes for a very uncomfortable at-bat for hitters on both sides of the plate because it feels like he’s throwing from behind righties and straight into lefties with that sweeper. Right-handed hitters are actually a little better because the ball isn’t always bearing in on them.
Though batters have been able to hit the ball hard when they manage to make contact against May, they’re putting it on the ground at a 62.2% clip and have yet to homer. That’s not great. And with these Cubs having only 18 total at-bats against him, you have to think the pitcher comes into the game with an advantage. I just hope the Cubs have that Trajekt Arc pitching machine loaded up with May’s stuff to get ready for this one.