The Toronto Blue Jays are Canada’s team. Despite starting the year on the rocks, the seas have calmed as they have gotten healthy. Following their sweep of the Boston Red Sox, they continue their road trip with a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs. Although there have already been Blue Jays vs. Cubs games this year, this series promises to be entertaining. Namely, as the MLB season marches closer to the trade deadline and post season.
Right now, the Blue Jays are chasing down the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays, who sit on top of the AL East. Securing first place in the division will set up the Blue Jays for the best come playoff time. Putting together a couple of lengthy winning streaks should be a target the team sets moving forward.
Here is everything that you need to know about the probable pitchers for the Blue Jays vs Cubs series, in addition to the Game 1 lineup.
Blue Jays vs Cubs: Probable Pitchers & Notable Stats
On June 19th, the Blue Jays and Cubs begin a three-game series against each other. For this series, there will be no off days.
With that being said, here are the probable pitchers for this series.
Game 1: Kevin Gausman vs Ben Brown
Game 1 of this series features an interesting pitching battle. For the Blue Jays, they are at the top of their rotation, with ace Kevin Gausman getting the ball for June 19th’s contest. From the other dugout, they are giving Ben Brown the start. Brown is slotted in as a middle-rotation arm for the banged-up Cubs rotation.
*Note: All stats taken from MLB.com and Savant.
| Stat | Gausman | Brown |
| Record | 4-4 | 3-2 |
| xERA | 3.24 | 3.10 |
| Strikeouts | 86 | 61 |
| BB | 16 | 19 |
| IP | 87.0 | 62.0 |
| Homeruns | 10 | 1 |
Game 2: Patrick Corbin vs Colin Rea
Game 2 should feature an intriguing battle between the southpaw Patrick Corbin and Colin Rea. Corbin has been a significant member of the Blue Jays’ pitching staff since his late addition to the team.
| Stat | Corbin | Rea |
| Record | 2-3 | 5-5 |
| xERA | 5.48 | 5.77 |
| Strikeouts | 43 | 56 |
| BB | 20 | 28 |
| IP | 61.0 | 62.0 |
| Homeruns | 7 | 12 |
Game 3: Dylan Cease vs Shota Imanaga
The final pitching battle of the series will feature Dylan Cease, aka the Strikeout Machine, against Shota Imanaga. Imanaga is a front-rotation pitcher who has a case to be the Cubs’ ace.
| Stat | Cease | Imanaga |
| Record | 4-3 | 4-6 |
| xERA | 3.01 | 3.62 |
| Strikeouts | 110 | 84 |
| BB | 31 | 22 |
| IP | 73.0 | 86.2 |
| Homeruns | 5 | 17 |
Blue Jays News: Game 1 Lineup vs Cubs Announced
Now that we know what the Game 1 pitching battle will be, it’s time to look at the rest of the lineup for Game 1. Here is the Blue Jays’ roster for the first game.
- DH: George Springer
- 1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
- RF: Jesus Sanchez
- LF: Yohendrick Pinango
- C: Alejandro Kirk
- CF: Nathan Lukes
- 3B Kazuma Okamoto
- 2B: Davis Schneider
- SS: Andres Gimenez
Luckily for Blue Jays fans, the Cubs have also announced their lineup for today’s game. The game will begin at 12:20 PM Mountain Time, 2:20 Eastern.
Here is the Cubs lineup for today:
- CF: Pete Crow-Armstrong
- 3B: Alex Bregman
- 1B: Michael Busch
- DH: Seiya Suzuki
- LF: Ian Happ
- RF: Matt Shaw
- 2B: Nico Hoerner
- C: Carson Kelly
- SS: Dansby Swanson
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