Monday notes…

• THE NOT-HITTING REPORT: The Cubs have totaled eight hits in their last three games, tied for their fewest hits in a three-game span since 1901. The three previous times they had eight hits were: May 11-13, 1902: Lost at home to Brooklyn, 3-0 (three hits) and 2-0 (four), then beat them 2-0 (one). September 28-30, 1912: Lost at home to Cincinnati, 12-1 (one), then lost at home to Pittsburgh, 9-0 (two) and 9-3 (five). April 22-25, 1956: Beat Cincinnati at home, 5-4 (four), tied it, 1-1 in 7 innings (two), then lost at St. Louis, 6-0 (two). (Courtesy of JohnW53 of BCB)
• FIRST IN LA: The Cubs are 53-65 in the first games of the series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. They are 113-103 in the first games away against all other West Coast teams. They are 15-19 in the first games against the Dodgers when they travel from Chicago, compared to 47-37 in the first games against all other West Coast teams when their previous game was at Wrigley Field, including 21-14 in San Diego and 24-21 in San Francisco. (Courtesy of JohnW53 of BCB)
• ALTHOUGH: The Cubs won two of three games at Dodger Stadium last year, in a series in April 2023. The last of those two victories was 3-2 on April 16, 2023. Of the five Cubs who pitched in that game, four are no longer with the Cubs or on the active roster.
• THAT BACK-UP CATCHMAN: Christian Bethancourt, 15 games as Cub: .351/.385/.703 (13-for-37) with four doubles, three homers, 15 RBI and nine runs scored.

Below are today’s details.

Cubs Lineup:

Dodgers Lineup:

Kyle Hendricks, RHP vs. Walker Buehler, RHP

Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

I don’t know what to make of Kyle Hendricks. He’ll have a few credible starts, then have a bust like the one in Pittsburgh last month (and the Cubs won that game!).

In his lone start against the Dodgers this year, on April 5 at Wrigley Field, Kyle pitched four solid innings but ran out of gas in the fifth inning — four innings total, five runs allowed. And the Cubs won that one, too!

Maybe he has one or two really good starts left in him. I hope for one tonight.

Walker Buehler underwent Tommy John surgery and missed much of 2022 and last year, then spent a few months on the IL this year with a hip injury.

He’s back and has made 12 starts and the results haven’t been good: 5.67 ERA, 1.611 WHIP, 13 home runs allowed in 54 innings. He’s had a few decent starts, but most of them have just been bad, with high pitch counts in just a few innings.

Let’s hope the Cubs get him tonight.

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s match is on Marquee Sports Network. You can check here to see if Marquee is available on a provider in your area.

Here’s the full MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Game Day

Baseball-reference.com Game Preview

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The 2024 Game Thread procedure will be the same as last year, similar to what we used for Spring Training.

The match preview will be placed separately on the front page two hours before the start of the match (90 minutes for some daytime matches after evening matches).

At the same time, a StoryStream featuring the preview will also be posted to the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will include every post related to that specific game, including the First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread, as well as the recap when it is published. The recap will also appear on the front page as a separate post.

You can also find the preview, First Pitch Thread, and the overflow thread in the box that says “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

The First Pitch thread will be posted five minutes before the start of the game, followed by an overflow thread 90 minutes after the scheduled start of the game.

Discuss this with each other.