Brewers Vs. Cubs: Opening Day Lineup, Pitching Matchup, TV Info, and More

2020 Brewers Opening Day is finally here! The 60 game season kicks off against the Chicago Cubs.

We made it! We finally made it! The long wait is finally over. Baseball is here, it is back, games will count again, and our beloved Brewers will return to the field.

Opening Day will not look the same as normal, however. No fans will be allowed in stadiums, rosters are expanded, the DH has arrived in the NL, and there will be no high fives or hugs at all.

Nevertheless, we have baseball to watch once again.

Brewers Starting Lineup

Ever since the end of the 2019 season, fans have been speculating about what the Opening Day starting lineup would look like, and now we finally have our answer.

Eric Sogard will get the first at-bat of the season, followed by MVP candidate Christian Yelich and rising star Keston Hiura. The big man, Justin Smoak is in the cleanup spot and Ryan Braun is DHing after missing most of summer camp and in the fifth spot in the order.

After that, Avisail Garcia, Omar Narvaez, Lorenzo Cain, and Orlando Arcia round out the rest of the lineup.

Cain has spent most of the past few years in the leadoff spot, so the move down to the 8th spot is interesting, but Craig Counsell would likely tell us to not read too much into it.

Pitching Matchup

Brandon Woodruff (0-0) 0.00 ERA vs Kyle Hendricks (0-0) 0.00 ERA

As with all Opening Day matchups, it’s a best-on-best pitchers duel between Brandon Woodruff and Kyle Hendricks.

Woodruff earned the Opening Day nod practically a year ago, but was only named the starter last week. He separated himself from the crowd last year, pitching to a 3.62 ERA in 22 starts. He dominated in the Wild Card game last year, cementing his ace status heading into 2020.

Kyle Hendricks has been an underrated and underappreciated pitcher for the Cubs for the last few years. Hendricks has posted an ERA of 3.46 or lower in each of the last four seasons, including a 2.13 ERA year in 2016 in 30 starts.

He doesn’t get the national attention that Jon Lester or Yu Darvish have gotten over the last few years, but he’s a very good pitcher in his own right.

Broadcast Info

The Brewers-Cubs matchup on Opening Day will be broadcast both locally and nationally.

• Channels: ESPN, FS Wisconsin
• Streaming: Fox Sports Go
• Time: 6:10 P.M. CST
• Radio: WTMJ, Brewers Radio Network
• Location: Wrigley Field

The regular season return of Brian Anderson, Bill Schroeder, and Sophia Minnaert is sure to warm the hearts of Brewers fans everywhere. If you aren’t in the FS Wisconsin viewing area, Fox Sports Go will have a streaming option, or you can go to ESPN to get the national telecast.

Opening Day History

The Brewers are 27-23-1 all time on Opening Day, and have been 11-10-1 since coming to the NL, per Mike Vassallo. The Crew is also 16-14-1 on the road for season openers.

The last and only time the Brewers opened against the Cubs was 2008, where the Brewers won 4-3 in extra innings at Wrigley.

It’s a 60 game race to the finish this year, although instead of a marathon, it’s more like a 10k. It’s not quite a spring, and there’s a long ways to go.

But it’s time to kick back, relax, and listen to the smooth sounds of Bob Uecker or Brian Anderson and enjoy the fact that baseball is back.

The Brewers are going to be in a tough battle for the division this year, and every game counts. They can ill afford a prolonged slump, and a hot start will be crucial.