Chicago Cubs Lineup (4/27/25): Bruján at 3B, Taillon Starting Rubber Match

The Cubs dominated the Phillies in a shutout win in the Friday opener, then got thumped on Saturday to square the series. Ben Brown ran into a spot of bother in the 4th inning as the Phillies dinked and dunked their way to a series of singles and a double to rack up six runs. While some of the contact was legit, a few of the hits were super cheap. Either way, the Cubs were buried early.

Now they’ve got a chance to take the series on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, making this the second game in a row with a national broadcast booth. Joy. Jameson Taillon has been much more consistent following a season debut in which he gave up half a dozen runs to the Diamondbacks. Nothing stellar, mind you, but the type of starts you need from a guy at the back end of the rotation.

This isn’t a particularly good matchup for him, as this Phillies roster carries a .290 average and .770 OPS against Taillon. Kyle Schwarber has taken him deep twice and Nick Castellanos has one as well, but the rest of the lineup has been somewhat quiet from a power perspective. Keeping them in the yard will be key tonight.

Scoring more than four runs would be a good idea too, so the offense would do well to get going early and often. Ian Happ leads off in left with Kyle Tucker in right and Seiya Suzuki at DH. Michael Busch is at first, followed by Dansby Swanson at short, Nico Hoerner at second, and Pete Crow-Armstrong in center. Miguel Amaya is the catcher and Vidal Bruján is at third.

They’re facing Aaron Nola, who is 0-5 with a 6.43 ERA so far. He’s given up 34 hits with 11 walks through 28 innings, though he does have 31 strikeouts. The only pitch that appears to be working for him in the changeup, which he only throws 16% of the time. The knuckle-curve that has traditionally been his best weapon is acting a little more slurvy without quite as much depth, making it less effective. He still throws it 28% of the time, making it his most-used pitch, so his outing may depend on whether or not it’s working.

Nola’s sinker velocity is at a mere 90 mph, down nearly two ticks from last year, and his 91.1 mph four-seam is also down appreciably. He still gets enough arm-side run on the two-seam to make up for the lack of velocity, but his fastball is just not going to beat anyone. Hitters from both sides of the plate have been all over him, with lefties outpacing their counterparts in both OBP and slugging.

This looks to be one of those games where being the home team and getting the last at-bat is a very good thing, though I’d say the Cubs have the advantage based on the way these two starters are throwing lately. Knocking Nola out and getting to the soft underbelly of that Phillies bullpen, especially after forcing them to go to their relievers quickly on Friday, is the plan tonight.

First pitch is at 6:10pm CT on ESPN and 670 The Score.

Ed. note: Sorry this is late, I was at the South Bend Cubs game and forget to get it out.