Take This Series-ly: Chicago Cubs, April 7-10

Opponent: Chicago Cubs
Location: Wrigley Field
Series length: Four (4) games
Dates: April 7-10
Probable Starting Pitching Match-ups:

• Thursday: Corbin Burnes (no record) vs. RHP Kyle Hendricks (NR)
• Friday: Brandon Woodruff (NR) vs. RHP Justin Steele (NR)
• Saturday: Freddy Peralta (NR) vs. RHP Marcus Stroman (NR)
• Sunday: Adrian Houser (NR) -or- Eric Lauer (NR) vs. LHP Drew Smyly (NR)

Thoughts from the on-deck circle (Initial thoughts about the series off the cuff): The delayed 2022 regular season begins with a series that, at least on paper, would have been much more highly contested a year ago at this time. The I-94 rivalry -- so named for the Interstate which connects the cities -- has been a tight one over years past. The fan bases aren't fond of one another, and even though players are more congenial nowadays when compared to the Milwaukee Brewers' initial move to the National League, every member of these teams knows that these games matter.

This is an NL Central Division opponent, a designation that resulted in a losing record against the Brewers in 2021. As the Crew strives to repeat as division champions and Postseason qualifiers, replicating their intra-divisional successes from a season ago would provide a strong base of operations for 2022.

But as you look up and down the rosters, which you can see below since this is the first series of the regular season, certain names who moved on at various points during 2021 are quite conspicuous by their individual and collective absences. There is still talent on this Cubs team, but this isn't even last year's model let alone a division contender.

Of Note (Something unique, usually specific to just this series):

Brewers Manager Craig Counsell has not yet decided between Houser or Lauer to take the ball first in Sunday afternoon's game. The two had been lined up on the same day for most of Spring Training. Counsell said the decision could be influenced by weather and lineup considerations.

Also, Major League Baseball and the Players Association agreed to expand regular-season rosters by two players for the month of April 2022. There's more that goes into what that means later on, but for now, teams get to carry extra bodies. The Brewers brought 15 pitchers north from Arizona on the roster.

Coincidentally, Milwaukee won 15 of the 19 head-to-head meetings against the Cubs in 2021. That allowed them to take over the lead in the all-time series at 200-198. The Brewers are 97-103 all-time at Wrigley Field.

Who Are These Guys?

Here are the 28-man Opening Day rosters for both teams. (Players new to a club over the off-season will be designated by a ^ behind their uniform number.)

The members of the Brewers' initial 28-man roster...

PITCHERS (15)

• LHP Aaron Ashby (#26)
• RHP Brad Boxberger (#45)
• RHP Corbin Burnes (#39)
• RHP Jake Cousins (#54)
• RHP Trevor Gott (#48)^
• RHP Jandel Gustave (#31)
• LHP Josh Hader (#71)
• RHP Adrian Houser (#37)
• LHP Eric Lauer (#52)
• LHP Hoby Milner (#55)
• RHP Freddy Peralta (#51)
• LHP Brent Suter (#35)
• RHP José Ureña (#32)^
• RHP Devin Williams (#38)
• RHP Brandon Woodruff (#53)

CATCHERS (2)

• Victor Caratini (#7)^
• Omar Narváez (#10)

INFIELDERS (6)

• Willy Adames (#27)
• Mike Brosseau (#20)^
• Keston Hiura (#18)
• Jace Peterson (#14)
• Rowdy Tellez (#11)
• Kolten Wong (#16)

OUTFIELDERS (5)

• Lorenzo Cain (#6)
• Andrew McCutchen (#24)^
• Hunter Renfroe (#12)^
• Tyrone Taylor (#15)
• Christian Yelich (#22)

INJURED LIST (2)

• Justin Topa (#56)
• Luis Urías (#2)

--

The members of the Cubs' initial 28-man roster...

PITCHERS (15)

• RHP Jesse Chavez (#43)
• RHP Scott Effross (#57)
• RHP Mychal Givens (#60)
• RHP Kyle Hendricks (#28)
• RHP Chris Martin (#58)
• RHP Alec Mills (#30)
• LHP Daniel Norris (#49)^
• RHP Ethan Roberts (#93)
• RHP David Robertson (#37)
• RHP Michael Rucker (#59)
• LHP Drew Smyly (#11)
• RHP Justin Steele (#35)
• RHP Marcus Stroman (#0)^
• RHP Keegan Thompson (#71)
• RHP Rowan Wick (#50)

CATCHERS (2)

• Willson Contreras (#40)
• Yan Gomes (#7)^

INFIELDERS (7)

• Nico Hoerner (#2)
• Nick Madrigal (#1)
• Alfonso Rivas (#67)
• Frank Schwindel (#18)
• Jonathan Villar (#24)
• Patrick Wisdom (#16)

OUTFIELDERS (5)

• Clint Frazier (#77)^
• Ian Happ (#8)
• Michael Hermosillo (#32)
• Jason Heyward (#22)
• Rafael Ortega (#66)
• Seiya Suzuki (#27)^

INJURED LIST (2)

• LHP Wade Miley (#20)
• Andrelton Simmons (#19)

What's Up, What's Down?

Gone are the household names who starred as the Cubs finally broke their long World Series curse. Anthony Rizzo was traded to and re-signed this winter with, the New York Yankees. Kris Bryant enjoyed a division championship out west after being sent to San Francisco in a trade and hopes to bring similar joy to his new free agency home in Colorado. Even Javier Báez, who moved to second base after a trade to the New York Mets so he could play alongside friend Francisco Lindor, found his way back to shortstop and the Midwest, but in the American League as a Detroit Tiger.

Game By Game:

Game 1: The last time Burnes toed the slab at Wrigley Field, he tied the Major League record for consecutive strikeouts recorded (10) en route to posting this line: 8.0 IP, 0 R, 15 K. Hendricks has been a thorn in the side of the Brew Crew for some time now. He has solid career numbers against Milwaukee and performs a bit better at Wrigley when facing Milwaukee than up the road. That said, he struggled to a 6.14 ERA in just 22.0 innings pitched across four starts against the Brewers in 2021.

Game 2 & 4 are together here because the Brewers had a pretty glaring weakness in 2021 in that they struggled to hit left-handed pitching. Both Chicago scheduled starters in these games (Steele & Smyly) are southpaws. The main thing to look for in these games is whether the Brewers can be better against lefties.

Game 3 sees the veteran pitcher (but new Cub) Marcus Stroman square off against third of Milwaukee's rotation Cerberus, Freddy Peralta. For the Brewers to continue to grow into a deep Postseason contender, Peralta's maturation is a key in 2022. As for Storman, the Cubs badly need confidence and swagger if they're going to have any real chance in 2021. Luckily for them, Stroman has plenty of both.

Bottom Line (sometimes a prediction, often a summary):

The Milwaukee Brewers are under more pressure to get off to a strong start in a season with such high expectations. A decisive series win would go a long way in setting the tone among the national pundits, with a split being understandable, if disappointing.

These two teams traditionally play each other tough, regardless of win-loss records or even recent performances against other teams. A series loss would be frustrating to say the least, but these things happen too.

I expect the Brewers to get out of the gates strong against Hendricks and Chicago. This team has a chip on its shoulder and making hay against one of the starters who you actually did hit around a bit last year is a good way to kick off an offense redemption tour.

Milwaukee wins the series, 3-1.