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CUBS LINEUP — The Cubs got their mojo back last night against the Phillies, plating ten runs and winning a game started by opener Riley Martin and continued on by Colin Rea. And that gives them a chance tonight to win a tough road series while getting back up to .500 on the young season.
Bottom line, you win this game, and everyone’s gonna start feeling a lot better, I bet. Here’s a look at the Cubs lineup against the lefty Jesus Luzardo.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
Nico Hoerner, 2B Alex Bregman, 3B Seiya Suzuki, DH Ian Happ, LF Michael Busch, 1B Dansby Swanson, SS Miguel Amaya, C Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF Matt Shaw, RFWith a traditional split lefty, Luzardo, on the mound tonight, the Chicago Cubs lineup takes its “versus lefties” form.
That means Alex Bregman moves up to second, Michael Busch moves down to fifth, Moises Ballesteros moves to the bench, and Matt Shaw comes in to play right field, with Seiya Suzuki at DH.
There are two other tweaks that, at one point, seemed like “versus lefties” changes (Nico Hoerner leading off, Pete Crow-Armstrong moving way down), but those are really just everyday things at this point. Hoerner is the leadoff man because he rocks. PCA is batting low because he’s struggling quite a bit, even against righties.
Carson Kelly is not in the Cubs lineup tonight, which is a shame because he’s SMOKING the ball this year, especially against lefties, but he can’t catch every night. And although he could play first base, Michael Busch has gotten enough of a breather. I’m happy he’s back in there, even against a lefty. We need to get him going.
Also, it’d be kind of ridiculous to sit Kelly, Ballesteros, and Busch on the same night, regardless of who’s pitching.
Philadelphia Phillies Lineup:
Trea Turner, SS Kyle Schwarber, DH Bryce Harper, 1B Adolis Garcia, RF Edmundo Sosa, 2B JT Realmuto, C Alec Bohm, 3B Brandon Marsh, CF Otto Kemp, LFPitching Matchup:
Chicago Cubs: Shota Imanaga, LHP
In case you haven’t been paying attention, Shota Imanaga has looked like his 2024 self more often than not so far this season, especially in his most recent start against the Pirates.
In that game at Wrigley Field, Imanaga held the Pirates hitless through six scoreless innings with just one walk and NINE strikeouts. Frankly, that was one of the absolute best starts of his entire career. Actually, now that I look it up, it was second only to the 7.0 hitless scoreless innings he also threw against the Pirates at Wrigley Field in 2024.
But even before that, he had been looking better. He held the Guardians to just 1 earned run over 5.0 innings in the start prior. And in his first start of the season, he basically had just one (not bad) pitch lifted for a 3-run homer. Otherwise, he’s been great.
The velocity is up a tick and I don’t think it’s entirely unfair to surmise that he really was playing slightly injured at the end of last season. I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, especially before a tough matchup against the Phillies with the wind blowing out, but what a boon it would be if Imanaga looked like his formerly dominant self this season, especially after we lost Cade Horton for the year.
One useful stat of note: The Phillies, while a formidable group overall, have struggled quite a bit against lefties here in the early going: .176/.287/.250 (59 wRC+, 26th in MLB). Let’s hope Imanaga can continue that trend tonight.
Philadelphia Phillies: Jesus Luzardo, LHP
The Cubs were moments away from trading Owen Caissie for Jesus Luzardo last season, but ultimately nixed the deal when they saw his medicals. Bummer for them as Luzardo went on to post the best season of his career for the Phillies, with a 3.92 ERA over 32 starts and 5.3 fWAR (28.5 K%, 7.5 BB%).
In other words, he was a STUD.
This year, however, things have been a little different.
On the one hand, he absolutely DOMINATED the Rockies in Colorado in his second of three starts, keeping them to just one earned run on five hits and no walks against 11 Ks in 6.2 IP.
But on the other hand, that performance came sandwiched between two bona fide DUDS against the Rangers and D-Backs:
vsTEX: 6.0 IP, 6H, 6ER, 1BB, 7K vsARI: 4.2 IP, 5H, 5ER, 3BB, 8KObviously, the strikeouts are still there (26 Ks in 17.1 IP … yeesh), and so are the groundballs, but the runs were scoring nonetheless. And the Rockies are probably the worst team in baseball. So. Here’s hoping his struggles last at least one more game.
Note: Jesus Luzardo carries traditional lefty/righty splits for his career. So righties will have a better chance than the lefties.
Broadcast Info:
Chicago Cubs(8-9) vs Philadelphia Phillies (8-9) at 5:40 CT – Marquee Sports Network, 104.3 The Score
Cubs vs Phillies – Key Injuries:
Chicago Cubs:
Jordan Wicks, SP Porter Hodge, RP Matthew Boyd, SP Cade Horton, SP Phil Maton, RP Justin Steele, SP (60-Day IL) Shelby Miller, RP (60-Day IL) Tyler Austin, IF/OF (60-Day IL) Hunter Harvey, RPPhiladelphia Phillies
Zack Wheeler, SP Max Lazar, RPCubs vs Phillies – Citizens Bank Park Weather Report
Location: Philadelphia, PATemperature: 89 degreesWind: Blowing out, 10 MPH
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