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The Chicago Cubs begin an important three-game series against the New York Yankees on Friday and it is the final series for both teams before the Major League Baseball All-Star break next week.
For the Cubs, the team enters Friday's game 6 games below the .500 mark on the season and 8 games behind the Cincinnati Reds for first place in the National League Central division.
The Cubs are coming off a four-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers where the team split the series against their division rival. Cubs' shortstop Dansby Swanson left Wednesday's game early due to a heel contusion and was forced to sit out of Thursday's game.
Swanson appears to be missing a second consecutive game as he is not in the team's starting lineup against the Yankees.
Here is tonight's #Cubs starting lineup in New York.
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 7, 2023
Tune in: https://t.co/Gs2hZXyTjH pic.twitter.com/xILNssHzar
Is Dany Swanson in the Chicago Cubs starting lineup tonight?
With Swanson not in the Cubs' lineup for Friday's game, the team is once again forced with the undesirable option of playing Patrick Wisdom at third base being that Christopher Morel is at second base with Nico Hoerner starting in place of Swanson at shortstop.
The Wisdom experiment at the Major League level should be over. The Cubs tried to blame Wisdom's offensive struggles on his recent wrist injury but his incompetence as an offensive player predates the injury.
Since May 1, in 112 plate appearances, Wisdom is slashing .133/.234/.276 with a wRC+ of 42. Wisdom's only value to the Cubs is as a home run hitter and he only has 4 home runs since the beginning of May. When Wisdom is not hitting the home runs consistently and striking out at a 44.6% clip since May 1, he has no business being on this roster.
If the Cubs lose this weekend's series against the Yankees, there no longer will be a question of whether or not the team will be sellers at the Trade Deadline. Selling will be the only option. To that end, the Cubs need all hands on deck for the series and it remains to be seen if Swanson will be able to play.