World Series Game 2 Cubs and Indians Line-Ups

After getting shut out by Corey Kluber, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen in game one, Joe Madden has done some shuffling in the bottom half of his line-up:

Gone is Chris Coghlan, who struck out in his first two at bats before being pulled for a pinch hitter and gone is David Ross, who actually had one of the best efforts offensively and overall for Chicago in game one. Russell is moved down to the nine hole with Soler taking Coghlan’s spot in right and batting eighth and Contreras in for Ross, batting seventh instead of ninth.

This isn’t necessarily to take advantage of splits stats as Kluber and Bauer are similar pitchers in many ways (including pitching arm) and the only Cubs hitters who have hit safely against Bauer are Bryant (1 for 3) and Russell (2 for 3). Still surprisingly absent is the Cubs $183M man, Jason Heyward, who didn’t even make an appearance during game one.

Most likely, Trevor Bauer will attack with his curve first as this strategy worked great against Boston and was the plan against Toronto until his finger split. If he can keep his stitches in tact, it should be successful against Chicago as well as they have historically had trouble with the curve.

The Indians will go with their typical line-up against right handers, a significantly stronger version than the left handed one. They hold platoon advantage with all hitters except Napoli and Perez and they have hit similarly against both sides. Since the Cubs are likely to match-up with Pedro Strop, the Indians have Rajai Davis and Brandon Guyer on the bench.