“Pitching Showdown Awaits: Can the Cubs and A’s Defy Expectations in a Thrilling Low-Scoring Duel?”

The Cubs come into this game with one of the more brutal starts to the season that a team could have. To be clear, I’m not saying the team has lost a bunch of games like the Braves, or gotten a player suspended for 80-days like the Braves. Instead, I’m saying that they had to travel to Japan to play against the World Series champs, then came back to finish Spring Training which wasn’t the correct amount of time that players are normally used to, and then start the season (again) against the Arizona Diamondbacks who were in the World Series two years ago. That’s tough. They also haven’t had a day off like most teams do to start seasons. In their five games since the Japan opener, they are 3-2, splitting a series against the Diamondbacks and then pounding the Athletics last night to the tune of an 18-3 drubbing. Tonight, they get to flip that rotation over and send out Justin Steele for his third start of the young season. Steele is a really talented pitcher, but hasn’t looked all that sharp yet. He has allowed eight earned runs over nine innings while also giving up three home runs in that span. He has faced A’s hitters just 23 times (with 11 of them against Luis Urias) and allowed only five hits.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5