Chicago Cubs Lineup (9/16/25): Busch Leading Off, Mo Baller Batting Cleanup, Horton Opposing Skenes

Let’s skip the typical preamble and get right to it: This matchup is all about the pitchers. We’ve got last year’s NL Rookie of Year against this year’s presumptive favorite as Paul Skenes and Cade Horton square off for the first time. Should Horton continue to pitch well enough for at least a second-place finish, this will also be a battle of pitchers who earned a year of service time without their teams getting a Prospect Promotion Incentive draft pick in return.

Skenes is the best pitcher in baseball right now and Horton has been one of the best since the break, posting a 0.84 ERA that is more than a half-run better than anyone else. Though he lacks Skenes’ overwhelming dominance, Horton has bombarded opponents with a mix of surgical precision and brute force as he fills the zone with a developing five-pitch mix. His cutting four-seamer and big sweeper have been complemented nicely by his change, curve, and sinker.

That changeup has become a particularly useful pitch seemingly out of nowhere. After unleashing just one in his debut — to strike out Juan Soto, of all people — Horton has upped it to 13% of his repertoire and even threw it 22 times when he faced the Mets a second time. He came up with a reputation for nasty strikeout stuff, but has risen to the top of the rookie rankings based on his pitchability.

Skenes may be off to the best start of a career we’ve ever seen, at least in recent memory. It’s not often prospects come up and meet the hype, but the 2023 No. 1 overall pick has exceeded even the loftiest expectations and then some. He throws seven different plus pitches, incorporating a sinker this season because he just wasn’t good enough as a rookie. The result is a bump from the 98th percentile in run value to the 100th, so it was apparently worthwhile.

The intimidating righty has allowed only one earned run over his last four starts while striking out 29 batters to just two walks. If his elite swing-and-miss stuff doesn’t get hitters, he also gives up very few homers and keeps the ball on the ground at a 52.3% clip. All you can really do is hope he has a bad start, and even that might mean giving up two runs.

I’ll get to the lineup now, but it’s honestly a total afterthought to the pitching matchup. Thank goodness the Pirates have done such a terrible job of constructing a competitive offense, because their arms are going to be dangerous for years to come. Until they’re inevitably traded away, that is.

This is the same lineup as yesterday, with Michael Busch at first, Nico Hoerner at second, and Ian Happ in left. That trio has been doing fine work of late, which is very good to see given the slumps two of them had been in for a while. Moisés Ballesteros cleans up as the DH, Carson Kelly is the catcher, and Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center with just one homer left to become the second Cub ever to join the 30/30 club. Dansby Swanson is at short, Willi Castro is in right, and Matt Shaw plays third.

One other quick note: Horton and Skenes are tied at 10 wins apiece despite the former making nine fewer appearances and the latter having a sub-2.00 ERA. Shows you how bad the Pirates have been for their ace.

First pitch is at 5:40pm CT on Marquee and 670 The Score.

Cade Horton Day.

Watch tonight on the Marquee Sports Network App. pic.twitter.com/XfO8kNEyDv

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 16, 2025