Chicago Cubs vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Game 2 preview, Saturday 5/7, 6:40 CT

Perhaps this one will be better.

I’m sure you don’t want a recap of Game 1. I’ll have a few thoughts aboit that game and a recap of Game 2 tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. CT.

Here are all the particulars for Game 2.

Cubs lineup:

Dodgers lineup:

Daniel Norris, LHP vs. Tyler Anderson, LHP

Daniel Norris hasn’t started a game since August 2, 2020 when he was with the Tigers.

Most likely, this isn’t really going to be a “start.” Norris hasn’t thrown more than 23 pitches in an outing this year, and so he’s probably going to be an opener tonight. He could be backed up with Justin Steele, who was originally scheduled to start this afternoon, or Keegan Thompson.

Norris threw an inning of relief against the Dodgers in the last game of the 2021 season and it did not go well, three runs allowed. Two of those were a homer by Matt Beaty, who isn’t on the team anymore. No current Dodger has more than eight career AB against Norris, so maybe he can throw his (likely) two innings without incident.

Note for the Norris pitch graphic below: Statcast requires a minimum of 100 pitches to show this info in its database for any particular season. Norris has thrown 96 pitches so far in 2022. Thus, the graphic below is for his 2021 season.

Tyler Anderson has been around. Last year he was shipped from the Pirates to the Mariners in a deadline deal, then signed with the Dodgers this year after the lockout ended.

He’s made four appearances (two starts) with pretty good results, a 2.55 ERA and 0.962 WHIP.

He made three starts against the Cubs last year, but all were (obviously) before the selloff, so most of the current Cubs have not faced him much. Willson Contreras is 4-for-19. Patrick Wisdom has homered off Anderson, who as you can see from the graphic below, mixes his pitches pretty well.

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Dodgers site True Blue LA. If you do go there to interact with Dodgers 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.