The 26-12 Cubs just swept the Reds at Wrigley and pushed their home win streak to 15 — the longest at Wrigley since 1935. They've been the best story in the NL for a month, and now they get a Rangers club at 17-20 that's lost 4 of its last 5 and is patching together a lineup.
Ben Brown is the wild card here. He's been ridiculous (2.10 ERA, 1-1) but he's pitching out of a job that wasn't supposed to be his — Matthew Boyd's IL stint pushed him back into the rotation, and through his early outings he hadn't crossed the 50-pitch mark. Whatever shape Craig Counsell wants the bullpen in tonight, the bridge from Brown to the back end is going to be longer than usual.
Kumar Rocker, meanwhile, has been a different pitcher at home (a sub-3.00 ERA at Globe Life entering his last start) than on the road. The bigger concern is that he only got through 2 innings on 43 pitches in a 5-1 loss to Detroit on May 2. That's the version Texas needs to bury, because a short Rocker start means more innings for a bullpen that's down Robert Garcia, Chris Martin and Declan Cronin.
- Day-To-DayBrandon Birdsell RP — no
- Day-To-DayJeff Brigham RP — no
- Day-To-DayJaxon Wiggins SP — no
- 15-Day-ILJordan Wicks RP — no
- 15-Day-ILHunter Harvey RP — no
- 15-Day-ILMatthew Boyd SP — no
- 15-Day-ILRiley Martin RP — no
- 15-Day-ILCaleb Thielbar RP — no
- Day-To-DayPeyton Gray RP — no
- Day-To-DaySebastian Walcott SS — Rangers GM Ross Fenstermaker said Tuesday that Walcott could be ready for game action in August, "if all things according to plan" in his rehab from the internal brace procedure he underwent on his right elbow, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News reports.
- 10-Day-ILCody Freeman 3B — no
- 10-Day-ILWyatt Langford LF — no
- 10-Day-ILJosh Smith 2B — no
- 15-Day-ILRobert Garcia RP — no
- 15-Day-ILLuis Curvelo RP — no
- 15-Day-ILCarter Baumler RP — no
Texas is also playing without Wyatt Langford and Josh Smith, which carves real production out of a lineup that already wasn't slugging like last year's team. Josh Jung's been carrying the bat (12 doubles, 4 HR, 19 RBI), but the supporting cast is thin enough that one Cubs early lead could turn this into a bullpen game in a hurry.
The market has Chicago at -134 with the runline at -1.5, which feels about right given the form gap and the pitching edge. The lean is the under 8.5 — Brown is built to miss bats, Rocker at home has been fine, and both bullpens have lost arms. But if Brown's pitch count forces an early hook, all bets are off.