The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals will compete in a day/night doubleheader on Thursday following Wednesday night's rainout. The Cubs moved a couple of key bullpen pieces at the deadline and will have an inexperienced pen backing up their starters in the doubleheader. The Cardinals have strengthened their starting rotation and have more pieces available to them now in the bullpen. The matchup in the opener will feature veteran righty Marcus Stroman (3-5, 3.99) of the Cubs taking on fellow righty Miles Mikolas (8-8, 2.86) of the Cardinals. First pitch is scheduled for 115pm EST.
The Cubs will come into Thursday's day/night doubleheader with a struggling offense and a depleted bullpen missing veteran arms sent off during Tuesday's trade deadline. The Cubs have been shut out in each of their last two games including a 6-0 white washing at the hands of Cardinals ageless wonder Adam Wainwright on Tuesday night. The Cubs have recalled three AAA relievers to add to their bullpen following the trades of veterans Dave Robertson, Chris Effross and Chris Martin. The Cubs will now be more reliant on quality starts from their starting pitchers with such an inexperienced pen behind them.
The start of tonight's #Cubs-Cardinals game is delayed.
We will share updates as they become available. pic.twitter.com/apqw1mKIiR
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 3, 2022
The Cubs not only have a depleted and inexperienced bullpen at the moment as they continue their rebuild, they have a struggling offense. The Cubs have been shutout in back-to-back games heading into Thursday's doubleheader. The Cubs are hitting just .184 in their last five games and have averaged just two runs per game over that span. On the mound in Thursday doubleheader opener will be righty Marcus Stroman. Stroman has made 13 starts in an injury-riddled season but has thrown five quality starts among those 13 starts. In July, Stroman was outstanding as he went 1-0 with a miniscule 0.89 ERA. Stroman slowly worked his way into deeper pitch counts, topping out at 95 pitches in six shutout innings against the Giants in his only win and decision in the month.