When games are contested at Wrigley Field, one of the things that every fan does is look up to the center field scoreboard to determine which direction the wind is blowing, and it is unquestionably one of the biggest factors in a game at the Friendly Confines.
On Friday night, the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians will play in Game 3 of the World Series, and the forecasts for the contest are certainly hitter-friendly, as the wind will be howling out to left field during the game.
While hitters will certainly relish the opportunity to hit in those kinds of conditions, the Indians may not derive as much benefit from the forecast as one would think. The Cubs are putting Kyle Hendricks on the mound for the game, and not only does he have an incredible ERA this season at Wrigley Field, but his style of pitching is also perfectly suited to the conditions that he will face on Friday night.
During the regular season, Hendricks induced 252 ground balls, giving him one of the best ground-ball rates in all of baseball. Of all of those balls that were hit, 42 went for base hits thanks to the weak contact that Hendricks is able to induce with his slower-velocity pitches and with the great deal of movement he can put on the ball, and the Cubs’ defense also gobbled up the ball whenever it touched the infield dirt.
Hendricks only allowed 15 home runs all year long as he mostly kept the ball on a line or on the ground. He did concede 138 fly balls this season, or just over a half of the number of grounders that he induced, but weak contact on those resulted in a paltry .148 batting average for hitters against him when they put the ball in the air.
With that kind of success in keeping the ball on the ground, Hendricks should be able to navigate the tricky conditions at Wrigley Field on Friday night. Indians starter Josh Tomlin, however, may not be so fortunate.
During his 2016 season, Tomlin allowed a staggering 36 home runs, and the majority of balls hit against him were either hit in the air or on a line. With the wind blowing out at Wrigley, Tomlin’s penchant for giving up fly balls could come back to bite him, and the Cubs’ numbers this season when the wind is blowing in that direction should give the team a lot of hope for a Game 3 victory.
Chicago Baseball
The wind was measured as blowing out for 19 games at Wrigley Field this season, and the Cubs had a 15-4 record in those games, according to NBC 5 meteorologist Kalee Dionne. What’s more, the Cubs hit 43 home runs in those 19 games, while their opponents hit 28 home runs in those contests.
With big boppers like Kris Bryant and Javier Baez in the mix, those numbers certainly look great, but there is one more bit of information that should put some wind in Cubs’ fans sails. Despite being a right-handed pitcher, Tomlin has reverse-splits, which means that he’s actually more effective against left-handed hitters. Righties batted at a nearly .300 clip against Tomlin this season, clobbering 22 home runs and a total of 45 extra-base hits off of him.
The Cubs’ offense will hope to continue that trend when the two teams battle in Game 3 of the World Series, which will start at 7:08 p.m. on Friday night.
