Chicago Cubs Lineup (4/1/25): Steele Starting, Amaya Catching in Sacramento
The Cubs sure managed to bounce back from that disappointing loss on Sunday in Arizona, putting up 18 runs with a cycle from Carson Kelly and homers from three others. Will people get as upset about him sitting as they did when he played instead of Miguel Amaya following the other catcher’s five-RBI performance in the opener against the Diamondbacks? It just wouldn’t be the early part of the season without a little overreaction.
I guess the same is true for the middle and later parts, so overreact away.
It’d be nice if Justin Steele offered us a good reason not to be concerned about his first two starts. He’s allowed eight earned runs in nine innings so far, with three of the 11 hits against him leaving the yard. One could easily argue that he was better in his loss to the Dodgers than in the win he was credited with in Phoenix, but you have to think he isn’t pleased with either game.
Getting the lefty back into a groove makes the Cubs a much better team, which will matter more when they aren’t putting up double digits. If there’s one thing about Craig Counsell, it’s that he’s consistent and tonight’s lineup reflects that.
Ian Happ leads off in left, Kyle Tucker is in right, Seiya Suzuki is DH, Michael Busch is at first, and Dansby Swanson is at short. Nico Hoerner is at second, Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center, Matt Shaw is at third, and Miguel Amaya, the only change from last night’s lineup, is catching.
They’re facing big offseason acquisition Luis Severino, who joined the A’s on a three-year, $67 million deal that I don’t think anyone saw coming. The 31-year-old righty pitched six scoreless innings in his A’s debut, which is all the more impressive when you see that he walked four batters and hit another while giving up three hits. Striking out six and getting a lot of weak contact will do that.
He had trouble locating his sweeper consistently, hence the walks and HBP, and it’ll be interesting to see whether he goes to it as often. A new pitch for him in 2023, he barely used it that season before upping it to 17% of his repertoire last year. In his season debut, however, the sweeper led the way with 33% usage. While it wasn’t very effective on its own, going that heavy on the breaking stuff made his 96 mph fastball play up.
We’ve seen other pitchers make big changes to their mix after leaving the Yankees, with Sonny Gray being one of the best examples. Whether this is something Severino is doing as a bigger overall strategy or just because of his matchup with the Mariners is something we’ll just have to watch unfold. I’d guess it’s a little of both and that he’s mixing things up to keep hitters guessing.
It might not matter if the Cubs carry over a little confidence from yesterday. First pitch from Sacramento is at 9:05pm CT on Marquee and 670 The Score.
