Chicago Cubs vs. Atlanta Braves Preview, Thursday, 5/23, 1:20 a.m. CT

Thursday notes:

• RACE SCORING (AND NOT): On April 26, after a 7-1 victory in Boston, the Cubs were 17-9 and their run differential was a season-high +32: 140 scored, 108 allowed. Since then, with a record of 10-14, the Cubs have given up exactly 108 more points, but have only scored 78, leaving their differential at only +2: 218-216. This is their lowest differential since they were -1 after their fourth game of the season. (Courtesy of JohnW53 of BCB)
• STAY NEARBY: The Cubs have spent the last 36 days in first or second place in the NL Central and haven’t trailed by more than two games in that span.
• STARTING EXCELLENCE: The Chicago Cubs are the only major league team to have two qualified pitchers (Shota Imanaga – 0.84 and Javier Assad – 1.70) with an ERA below 2.00. The last time the Cubs had two pitchers on their team at the same time with an ERA below 1.50 and at least 40 innings pitched was July 3, 1977: Bruce Sutter (0.77 ERA in 70⅓ innings) and Paul Reuschel (1.39 ERA in 45⅓ innings). Last time they had two starters (defined as more than 50 percent of their games as a starter) at the same time: June 18, 1919: Hippo Vaughn (1.48 ERA in 121⅓ innings) and Phil Douglas ( 1.47 ERA in 104⅓ innings).
• ICYMI: Only two Cubs before Porter Hodge last night struck out three batters in their only inning of their first championship game. On May 15, 2003, Todd Wellemeyer notched three consecutive takedowns to close out a 4-2 victory in 17 innings in Milwaukee. Corey Patterson’s home run broke the tie early in the inning. On September 8, 2019, Danny Hultzen made his debut in the seventh inning in Milwaukee, with the Cubs trailing 8-3. He hit a batter and allowed a single, then fanned three in a row: swinging, watching, swinging. (Courtesy of JohnW53 of BCB)

Here are the details for the day.

Composition of the Cubs:

Braves lineup:

Ben Brown, RHP vs. AJ Smith-Shawver, RHP

Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

After a disastrous first outing on March 30 against the Rangers, Ben Brown was very good, regardless of his role, starter or reliever. Since March 30: 2.14 ERA, 2.24 FIP, 1.099 WHIP, 38 strikeouts in 33⅔ innings, only one home run allowed.

He pitched two innings and allowed one run to the Braves on May 15 in Atlanta. Brown threw 42 pitches on Sunday, so he’ll likely be limited to maybe 70-75 at most this afternoon.

AJ Smith-Shawver made six appearances (five starts) for the Braves last year, including this 3⅔ inning outing on September 28, 2023 against the Cubs in Atlanta. He allowed no hits, but only one run that night.

This year, he made eight starts at Triple-A Gwinnett with a 6.10 ERA and 1.516 WHIP, with nine home runs allowed in 31 innings. That sounds pretty bad, but who knows. Smith-Shawver was No. 42 in Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects before this season.

His chart below is from last year; Brown’s is from this year.

Statistics

Statistics

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. You can find out if Marquee is available through a provider in your area here.

Here’s MLB.com’s full live stream page for today.

Game Day MLB.com

Game Overview Baseball-reference.com

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The procedure for the 2024 Game Thread will be similar to last year, similar to what we used for spring training.

You will find the game preview published separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games after evening games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also be posted on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of the week/date).” It will contain all articles related to that particular game, including the first thread and the overflow thread, as well as the recap when it is published. The recap will also be published on the front page in a separate article.

You can also find the preview, the First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread in the “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” box at the bottom of the first page (you can also find them in this link section). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in this section.

The First Pitch thread will be posted five minutes before game time, followed by an overflow thread 90 minutes after scheduled game time.

Discuss it among yourselves.