Craig Counsell Shakes Up Game 1 Lineup for NLDS

Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell has shaken up the lineup for Game 1 of the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers. Most noticeably, Ian Happ has been moved down from the three spot to fifth, while Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki have been bumped up to the heart of the batting order after the duo were hitting fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Wild Card series against the San Diego Padres.

Michael Busch and Nico Hoerner are still the top two hitters in Counsell’s Game 1 lineup. The Cubs are balanced up and down the batting order, going lefty-righty until Dansby Swanson and Matt Shaw at the bottom of the lineup.

Happ was on fire during the final 2.5 months of the regular season, but there’s no doubt that he struggles facing high velocity. He was 1-for-11, with six strikeouts and no walks against the Padres, consistently chasing fastballs up and out of the zone. Freddy Peralta is the starting pitcher for the Brewers and the hard-throwing righty has dominated Happ.

The Cubs’ left fielder is only 2-for-32 in his career against Peralta with 14 strikeouts and six walks.

Peralta has been tough to hit his entire career and that’s no different against these Cubs hitters. Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong are the only two batters in the lineup with good numbers against the Brewers’ Game 1 starter as both left-handed hitters are 5-for-11 facing Peralta.

Meanwhile, Matthew Boyd is starting on three days rest after throwing 58 pitches on Tuesday. The Brewers don’t have much experience against the lefty, but William Contreras has seen him well, going 4-for-9 with a home run against Boyd. Andrew Vaughn and Christian Yelich have also homered off Boyd in their careers.

We’ll see if the lineup change by Counsell pays off in Game 1.