Chicago Cubs Lineup (4/11/25): Happ Leads Off, Tucker Second, Boyd on Bump
Oh, how I’ve missed these late West Coast starts. And by that I mean it’d be preferable to undergo another gum graft than toil through another string of games that could bleed into the following day. That’s especially true for those of us on Eastern time. The Cubs will mercifully return home in a week for a string of afternoon affairs, but we’ll all have to stave off the Sandman in the meantime.
This will be the Cubs’ second series against the Dodgers, which will be followed by their second series against the Padres, which will be followed by their second series against the Diamondbacks, which will be followed by their third series against the Dodgers. The schedule, for lack of a better phrase, is dumb af. I guess the late tilt is better than waking up before dawn, so there’s that.
Matt Boyd pitched in one of the exhibition games in Tokyo, so he’s getting his first crack at the Dodgers this season. He’s got a little experience against this roster, most of which comes from facing Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez in his AL days. This group has a combined .184/.231/.265 slash line with just one homer and three walks to 14 strikeouts against Boyd, so fingers crossed for continued hardship.
Getting the bats going will be key either way, starting with Ian Happ in left, Kyle Tucker in right, and Seiya Suzuki at DH. Former Dodgers prospect Michael Busch will look to show his old team what it’s missing at first base. Dansby Swanson brings his power stroke to short, Nico Hoerner is at second, and Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center. Matt Shaw plays the hot corner and Miguel Amaya does the catching.
They’re facing Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the second time after he kicked off the season in what was technically a home game for the Cubs. He went five innings on 72 pitches, striking out four with one run on three hits and a walk. The righty was less efficient against the Tigers, needing 91 pitches to get through five frames 10 days later. He did strike out 10 in that one, so it’s not like he was really laboring.
This guy is going to be really good if he can stay healthy, with his 96 mph fastball and 92 mph splitter carving up opponents. Yamamoto needs those two pitches to work because they comprise 70% of his repertoire, but also because his breaking balls have been pretty awful thus far. The curve he throws 16% of the time has been worth -2 runs in just three starts, though it doesn’t matter much when his primary pitches are on.
The Tigers popped two homers against him and his walks have gone up by one in each start, so the Cubs can definitely take advantage if his not hitting his spots. I just hope I can stay awake for this one. First pitch is at 9:10pm CT on Marquee and 670 The Score.
