Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati Reds Preview

On paper, the Cubs have a far more formidable group of position players than the Reds. However, the Reds should not be taken lightly, as they have a lineup of talented players themselves. Joey Votto and Adam Duvall have combined to hit nine home runs and 21 RBI.

For the sake of comparison, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo have a combined three home runs and 12 RBI. Kyle Schwarber does not look like a “typical” leadoff hitter, but he has outplayed Billy Hamilton of the Reds.

In 56 at-bats, Schwarber is hitting .232 with a .368 OBP and an .814 OPS; in 62 at-bats, Hamilton is hitting .226 with a .269 OBP and .543 OPS. Shortstop Zack Cozart is hitting .400 with one home run and eight RBI in 45 at-bats; Russell is hitting .254 with two home runs and 12 RBI in 59 at-bats.

RF Jason Heyward is off to a much better start than last season, hitting .294 in 51 at-bats. He is hitting .341 on balls in play, meaning he is finding his way on base when he hits the ball. Meanwhile, Reds RF Scott Schebler is hitting .160 in 50 at-bats, hitting just .143 on balls in play.

Even though the Cubs have more notable names in their lineup, the Reds have scored more runs this season. In 16 games, they have scored 72 times and have 129 hits; the Cubs have scored 66 runs on 131 hits. Great American Ballpark is known to be kind to hitters, so do not be surprised if plenty of runs are scored this series.