Chicago Cubs vs. Colorado Rockies preview, Saturday 4/16, 7:10 CT

Today’s roster moves: Here

saturday notes…

• WILLSON!: Willson Contreras extended his hitting streak to four games with two doubles and a single in five at-bats. He leads the team in doubles (3) and ranks second in slugging percentage (.722), OPS (1.222) and is tied for second in on-base percentage (.500), behind only Seiya Suzuki in all three categories.
• WHAT A RELIEF: Cubs relievers have allowed two earned runs in 17 innings (1.06 ERA) over the last four games and own a 2.83 ERA (nine earned runs in 28⅔ innings) this season, the fifth-best mark in the National League.
• BEING AHEAD: The Cubs have held a lead in each of their first seven games of the 2022 season. The franchise record for most consecutive games in which the team held a lead to start the season was set in 1938. That Cubs team held a lead in each of their first 19 games to start the year, a season in which the team finished with an 89-63 record but then lost to the Yankees in the World Series.
• THE SCHWINDY CITY: Frank Schwindel has 83 MLB hits since being recalled to the Cubs July 30, 2021. That’s second among all MLB players in that time frame (Austin Riley leads with 85).

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Rockies lineup:

Mark Leiter Jr., RHP vs. Antonio Senzatela, RHP

More on Mark Leiter Jr. in this article noting his callup to the Cubs.

Only two current Rockies have ever faced him: Charlie Blackmon (0-for-4) and Kris Bryant (0-for-1). Perhaps the unfamiliarity will be to his advantage. NOTE: The pitching chart for Leiter below is from his most recent MLB season in 2018.

Antonio Senzatela allowed nine hits in just 3⅓ innings in his 2022 season debut, April 10 against the Dodgers. LA scored four runs, but just one was earned.

He’s faced the Cubs twice last year, both times after the Cubs selloff, and allowed five runs in 10⅔ innings, with 12 strikeouts. One thing Senzatela did well last year, particularly for a Coors Field pitcher, is not allow home runs, just 12 in 156⅔ innings. Of those, just five were at home in 90⅔ innings, which is pretty good. So it would behoove Cubs hitters to not swing for the fences tonight, but instead try to put balls in play.

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee. It’s also on MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Rockies market territories).

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Rockies site Purple Row. If you do go there to interact with Rockies fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2022 Game Thread procedure will be like last years, similar to what we’ve used for Spring Training.

You’ll find the game preview posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game, including the First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread, as well as the recap when it’s published. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread in the box marked “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 post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at 90 minutes after the scheduled game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.