Chicago Cubs Lineup (10/2/22) – McKinstry Leads Off, Contreras Catching, Stroman Starting Final Home Game

First, let me apologize for the general lack of content on the site lately. It’s been a really busy week for all of us here at CI as we deal with various non-Cubs items, so our content cycle includes little more than posting lineups and recaps. Thanks for sticking with us, we will ramp things up again soon with more coverage of the offseason and also the minors from some new voices.

Sunday marks the final Cubs home game of the season, which is a little hard to believe even though we’re already in October. This team is hot right now, winning six straight and 10 of 11 to spur hope that maybe things really can get better in a hurry. Marcus Stroman has been part of that run and is looking for his third consecutive quality start at home to close out his season.

Going for the Reds is 34-year-old journeyman Chase Anderson, who Cubs fans probably know best from his days in Milwaukee. The righty has bounced around between three different organizations this season, landing with the Reds after being released or opting out of minor league deals with the Tigers and Rays. This will be Anderson’s seventh start and eighth overall appearance for the Reds in 2022, most of which have gone really well.

After being shelled by the Cardinals for five runs in 1.1 innings during his first start, Anderson has allowed seven earned runs over 21.2 frames. He hasn’t allowed a homer in his last three starts and has struck out 12 with two walks in that time while getting a large percentage of grounders. Much of that comes from the changeup, a pitcher he’s throwing nearly 30% of the time these days.

Anderson isn’t overpowering by any stretch and he’s not much of a strike-thrower, so this is one of those games where the Cubs can afford to be patient and wait for their opponent to make mistakes. Anderson’s best hope is to get hitters to swing at his pitches and put balls in play weakly, so forcing him to work in the zone is the best way to clog the bases and push runs across.

That starts with Zach McKinstry leading off at second base as he makes a case for inclusion on next year’s roster. Willson Contreras is next at catcher, then it’s Seiya Suzuki in right, Ian Happ in left, and Nico Hoerner at short. Franmil Reyes is the DH, P.J. Higgins is at first, David Bote is at third, and Nelson Velázquez is in center.

It would be nice to see the Cubs put up a big tally here on the last Wrigley afternoon of the season, the fans who’ve stuck with them deserve that much. First pitch is at 1:20pm CT on Marquee and 670 The Score.

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