The Chicago Cubs signed All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel last week, perhaps making them feel that they can compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers for National League supremacy.
The Dodgers, who own the best record in the league by a wide margin, welcomed the Cubs to town for a four-game series this weekend and seem to be looking to show them who the two-time defending NL Champions are as they earned a 7-3 victory in Thursday night’s series opener.
They look to keep that going on Friday night, and left-hander Rich Hill gets the start against the team that drafted him. Hill has been on a roll as of late, going 3-2 with a 1.50 ERA and 1.07 WHIP while striking out 38 and walking nine in 30 innings across his last five starts.
Overall in eight starts this season, the 39-year-old is 3-1 with a 2.40 ERA, 4.09 FIP and 1.16 WHIP. He has struck out 52 batters while walking just 12 in 45 total innings.
Hill has only faced the Cubs twice in his career (one start), tossing a combined 6.2 shutout innings in those games. He has also made two postseason starts against the Cubs since coming over to the Dodgers and he allowed just one run in 11 innings during those.
Opposing Hill is veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks, who has also been pitching his best baseball as of late. In Hendricks’ last eight starts, he owns a 6-0 record to go along with a 1.99 ERA and 0.82 WHIP.
Hendricks carries a 7-4 record in 13 starts this season. He has yielded a 3.00 ERA, 3.12 FIP and 1.11 WHIP with 74 strikeouts and 14 walks in 84 innings. The Dodgers have had success against Hendricks in the past though as he is 2-2 with a 5.16 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in four regular-season starts against Los Angeles.
Joc Pederson, Max Muncy and Justin Turner, who are three of the top five hitters in the Dodgers lineup, have all homered off Hendricks in their careers.
Muncy, in particular, has been swinging the bat really well as of late. He is batting .308/.401/.615 with 11 home runs, 31 runs scored and 25 RBI in his last 35 games. Included in that is three home runs in his last two games.
Cubs leadoff man Kyle Schwarber has also found his home run stroke, hitting five in his last nine games. He has also driven in 11 runs and has a 1.161 on-base plus slugging percentage over that span.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Joc Pederson
CF: Alex Verdugo
3B: Justin Turner
RF: Cody Bellinger
2B: Max Muncy
SS: Chris Taylor
1B: Matt Beaty
C: Russell Martin
P: Rich Hill
Cubs lineup:
LF: Kyle Schwarber
3B: Kris Bryant
1B: Anthony Rizzo
SS: Javier Baez
C: Willson Contreras
CF: Albert Almora Jr.
RF: Jason Heyward
P: Kyle Hendricks
2B: Addison Russell
