Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Friday 5/23, 5:40 CT

The Cubs open a three-game series at Great American Ball Park.

Today’s roster move: Here

Friday notes…

• THE VANISHING STRIKEOUT: In the second game at Miami, Cubs pitchers struck out just two batters, tying the team’s season low, and in the final game they fanned only three, as they had in one earlier game. Last Friday, at home vs. the White Sox, they struck out four, as in two earlier games. So, in their last seven games, the Cubs have had three of their seven lowest strikeout totals. They have had at least six in each of their 43 other games. They are averaging 7.88 per game. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• STREAKING: Dansby Swanson’s career-high on-base streak now stands at 21 games. In the streak he’s batting .387/.447/.653 (29-for-75) with two doubles, six home runs, 12 RBI, nine walks and 18 runs scored. It’s also the longest on-base streak in MLB so far this year.
• IAN HAPP’S FAVORITE PLACE: Ian Happ, career at GABP in 56 games: .311/.417/.684 (60-for-193) with 16 doubles and 18 home runs. The 1.101 OPS is his best at any park where he’s played more than seven games.
• KING TUCK, HEATING UP: Kyle Tucker, last seven games since May 14: .385/.500/.731 (10-for-26) with a double, a triple, two home runs, four stolen bases, six walks and five runs scored.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Matthew Boyd, LHP vs. Hunter Greene, RHP

Matthew Boyd has just been solid all year. He hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his nine starts, and has gone six innings six times. “Dependable” is the best description I can think of.

Boyd hasn’t faced the Reds since 2021 when he was with the Tigers, and no current Reds batter has more than four at-bats against him. The Reds have a .623 team OPS vs. LHP (compared to .738 vs. RHP) and are 6-9 vs. LH starters this year.

Could be a good setup for Boyd.

Hunter Greene was blazing along having a very good year (2.36 ERA, 0.810 WHIP, 61 strikeouts in 45⅔ innings) when he suffered a groin strain in his start May 7 against the Braves and had to leave after three innings.

He’s coming back after just a couple of bullpen sessions, no rehab assignment, so he might wind up pitch-limited tonight, although he maxed out at 114 pitches in the start before the one where he was injured.

Greene faced the Cubs three times last year and they actually hit him pretty well: 4.86 ERA, 1.140 WHIP, 10 walks in 16⅔ innings.

Seiya Suzuki, in particular, has enjoyed hitting against Greene: 6-for-13, a double, a triple, two home runs.

Baseball Savant

Baseball Savant

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. You can find out if Marquee is available via a provider in your area here.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Reds site Red Reporte. If you do go there to interact with Reds 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 2025 Game Thread procedure will be identical to last year’s.

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.