Jamo v Jon Lester, Lineup & Notes

Game: The Pirates visit Wrigley; there's been an awful lot of Central Division baseball being waged to start the season. The game starts at 2:10 and will be on AT&T SportsNet, 93.7 The Fan and the MLB Network for out-of-market fans. Today, btw, is the Cubbies Home Opener, so we'll see if some home cookin' has been what they've been missing so far as the Baby Bruins have struggled to a 2-7 start. The Cubs won the season series 10-9 in 2018.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Starling Marte CF, Fran Cervelli C, Josh Bell 1B, Jung Ho Kang 3B, Melky Cabrera RF, Pablo Reyes LF, Kevin Newman SS, Jameson Taillon P. Nice to see Newman get a little love, and here's hopin' that JHK's eye gets used to off speed stuff as the year goes on. He ain't gonna see many fastballs and as a result is hitting .154 while leading the club with nine whiffs in the early going.

JHK is seeing lots of spinners so far - 2015 Topps

Pitchers: RHP Jameson Taillon (0-1/3.46) looks for his first W against LHP Jon Lester (1-0/3.00).  Jamo was strong against Chicago last year, going 2-0/2.29 in three outings (4-3/3.88 in eight career starts). The Cubs veteran southpaw was hard on the Bucs in 2018, going 4-1/3.08 in six starts (9-6/3.18 in 18 career starts); seems like a primo matchup.

Notes:

• The Pirates have won four in a row.
• Emma Baccellieri of SI has some takes on the brawlball yesterday.
• After three games here, the Pirates get to see the rest of the league, with a three-game set in Washington and two more in Motown. They'll be back home for Easter weekend to start a stand v the Giants and D-Backs.