Fri 02/10/2015 - 11:56 EDT

Weekend MLB Series Preview: Chicago Cubs Vs. Milwaukee Brewers

Weekend MLB Series Preview: Chicago Cubs Vs. Milwaukee Brewers

Friday’s Pitchers: Jake Arrieta (21-6, 1.82 ERA) vs. Ariel Pena (2-0, 3.91 ERA)

The best player on the Cubs’ roster in 2015 is ace Jake Arrieta. Arrieta can finish up his record-setting second half and make claim to the NL CY Young with one last dominate performance tonight. The Cubs ace, who will almost certainly pitch the NL Wild Card game, can help the Cubs potentially host set game. Arrieta has 20 consecutive quality starts and a sub 0.8 ERA since the All-Star Break.

Ariel Pena has been a quality pitcher over his 4 starts so far, even while playing in one of MLB’s more hitter friendly parks. Pena is outclassed by Arrieta and facing a Cubs team with meaningful baseball left. Pena biggest strength so far has been his ability to limit hits, holding batters to a .229 over his 4 games.

Saturday’s Probable Pitchers: Kyle Hendricks (7-7, 4.09 ERA) vs. Tyler Wagner (0-1, 11.74 ERA)

Kyle Hendricks took a step back this season, with his ERA climbing by over 1.5 points. He has however increased his strikeout rate over 9 innings from 5.3 to 8.2 and his WHIP is still cool 1.195. Hendricks has success against the Brewers in his young career, going 3-1 with an ERA of 1.72 over 5 starts.

Wagner only has 7.2 innings pitched so far over his career and gets another chance to try and impressive the front office before the offseason. Impressive is being used a little liberally in this context, as he has allowed 10 runs and 15 this over those 7.2 innings pitched. Wagner has only 2 strikeouts and will need to show much more too even warrant a spot in the bullpen in 2016.  

Sunday’s Probable Pitchers: Dan Haren (10-9, 3.67 ERA) vs. Jorge Lopez (1-0, 5.40 ERA)

A veteran and three time All-Star, Haren closes out the Cubs season. Depending on the results from the first two games and how the Pirates play over the weekend, this game may be meaningless and Haren could see his play time limited to ensure he is well-rested for the playoffs. Haren, a midseason acquisition, is 3-2 with an ERA of 4.30 over 10 starts.

The third rookie for the Brewers to start this weekend is Jorge Lopez. Lopez has one start so far in his career, giving up 3 runs and striking out 7 over 5 innings. The Brewers have nothing left to play for, but will not likely stretch out any of their rookies over the weekend, considering they may really need some of them next season.

Something to Watch

 

With all the rookie pitchers for the Brewers, it has become necessary to talk about a certain rookie for the Cubs. That rookie is third baseman Kris Bryant. Bryant has been absolutely dominant, with a good chance to crack 100 RBIs this week – he currently sits at 99 – and the NL Rookie of the Year award already locked up. The heart of the Cubs order vastly improved in 2015 with the emergence of Bryant and his contributions have helped the Cubs get into the playoffs sooner than expected. 

Category : Betting Picks

Tag : baseball , betting , chicago cubs , kris bryant , Milwaukee Brewers , mlb , mlb betting , mlb weekend series

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