DALLAS — The Texas Rangers enjoyed a winning homestand to kick off the season, sweeping the defending National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies before dropping a series to the Baltimore Orioles, two games to one.
At 4-2 and atop the American League West, the Rangers will try to show growth after going 34-47 away from Arlington last season. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs went 37-44 at home in 2022 as a member of the N.L. Central.
Unlike Texas, Chicago already has a home series and an away series under their belt. The Cubs lost two of three to the Milwaukee Brewers to start the season from the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field before splitting two of a would-be-three-game set in Cincinnati. The third game was postponed due to rain.
Northsiders’ POV
Like the Rangers, the Cubs are attempting to steer the franchise in the right direction this season. With a starting rotation of veterans Marcus Stroman, Jameson Taillon, and Drew Smyly, along with breakout Justin Steele and high-ceiling prospect Hayden Wesneski, Chicago has enough strong arms to put up a fight in a relatively wide-open division.
The offense is where the Cubs made big additions over the winter with names including Eric Hosmer at first base, Cody Bellinger in center field, Tucker Barnhart behind the dish, Trey Mancini as a DH, and the stellar Dansby Swanson at shortstop.
With the rain delay in Cincinnati, Chicago is able to reconfigure their rotation for this series against Texas. The likely starters for the Cubs during the three-game set at Wrigley look to be Stroman, Steele, and Taillon. Stroman was on the hill for the opener, going six strong innings of three-hit, shutout ball. Steele hit the hill on Saturday and duplicated Stroman’s three-hit, six inning performance. Free agent signee Taillon was the only of the first three that stumbled, giving up three runs in four innings of work.
The offense arrives back home coming off an outstanding set at Cincinnati. Despite losing the first game, the Cubs tallied 12 hits, with the first seven hitters in the lineup, plus Tucker Barnhart, getting knocks. Bellinger got his first hit as a Cub with a rocketed 3-run shot. That could be a sign of the former NL MVP being ready to break out of his early season slump.
Things to watch for
All three of these contests in Chicago are slated to be played under the sun. Last season, the Rangers were 25-34 in day games. The offense in those contests slashed .240/.307/.412. Texas did not face the Cubs at all last year, however.
2019 was the last time Texas faced the North Siders when they opened the season with a series win, two games to one, in the final season at Globe Life Park. The only player still on the Cubs from that time is Ian Happ, so there’s not much that can be gleaned from those previous results.
One of the things to watch for early on in this season is if the bullpen can continue its run of scoreless innings. Whether they’ve been asked to come in during the later innings with a lead, or early on to bail out a starter, the bullpen has been nothing short of stellar for the first six games.
Outfielder Josh Smith sat out of Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s game after taking a fastball to the jaw on Tuesday night. Remarkably, he suffered no serious injuries, and now, three days later, it’s possible that Smith will be able to get back into the action after avoiding the injured list.
The offense’s approach will be something to see, as well. While an aggressive, sitting fastball approach worked great against the Phillies, the same strategy made the lineup that scored 29 runs in the season’s first three games look dismal against the Orioles.
They adapted, though, in the Baltimore finale – so the Texas offense, which had success as an early-count swinging lineup, could be asked to keep a more patient approach against Chicago. Originally, Texas wasn’t scheduled to face Stroman, but the postponement in Cincinnati changed that and made the series a trickier one.
Pitching probables preview
Game 7, 1:20 PM CST: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. RHP Marcus Stroman (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Game 8, 3:05 PM CST: LHP Martin Perez (1-0, 1.59 ERA) vs. LHP Justin Steele (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Game 9, 1:20 PM CST: RHP Jon Gray (0-1, 2.84 ERA) vs. RHP Jameson Taillon (0-1, 6.75 ERA)
Nathan Eovaldi takes the hill for his second start, coming off his first win with Texas last Saturday. In that contest, Eovaldi went five innings, gave up three runs, and struck out six while throwing 82 pitches. Expect a little longer leash for the hard throwing righty. He’ll face Stroman, who is always fired up and is fresh off one of the better Opening Day performances from around the league.
Martin Perez will go on Saturday, opposing Steele in a lefty-lefty matchup. Perez battled a lot of command issues while giving up eight hits in the finale win on Sunday against Philadelphia. While he limited the damage and pitched out of trouble, chances are the Cubs’ offense has done their homework and understands how close to the edges and corners Perez likes to live.
The finale will see Jon Gray go against Taillon. Both suffered losses in their first outings of 2023, although Gray was more of a hard luck loser, giving up just two solo homers while Texas was unable to play a run in the opener against Baltimore. Taillon got knocked around a little more by the Brewers, as he gave up three runs on seven hits in four innings.
Do you think the Rangers will survive well away from home? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
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