Chicago Cubs Lineup (9/18/25): Busch Leading Off, Mo Baller Batting Cleanup, Rea Starting
The Cubs swept the Pirates in Pittsburgh, clinching their first postseason berth since 2020 in the process. Now their focus turns to maintaining the NL’s top Wild Card position so they can play host for the entirety of that series. Tonight may be tough because there are both figurative and literal hangovers to work through, plus the Reds are still very much in the running for a playoff spot as well.
Even though they can’t exactly engage cruise control just yet, Craig Counsell‘s team has built up a little momentum and can probably afford to let gravity do the heavy lifting for a game here and there. That’s particularly true for the pitching staff, as the starters may need to get a little extra rest down the stretch here. Matthew Boyd has been shaky for a month now, and Cade Horton is in uncharted territory in terms of innings and pitches.
Colin Rea has been well worth the $5 million deal the Cubs gave him in the offseason, though they’d obviously have preferred a healthy Justin Steele. Rea has filled in well despite a few spotty performances, two of which came in back-to-back outings against the Reds in late May. He’s made some tweaks since then and this isn’t the same opponent for various reasons, so perhaps the Cubs will see a better result tonight.
Michael Busch leads off tonight playing first, Nico Hoerner at second, Ian Happ in left, and Moises Ballesteros at DH. Seiya Suzuki is in right, Carson Kelly catching, Pete Crow-Armstrong in center, Dansby Swanson at short, and Matt Shaw at third.
They’re facing hard-throwing righty Hunter Greene, who is coming off a terrible start against the A’s that saw him surrender five earned runs over 2.1 innings. Greene is having another tremendous season, though he missed two months with a groin strain and has been serving up more homers than he did last year. That 0.72 HR/9 mark in 2024 coincided with a .237 BABIP that tells us his season might have been something of a mirage. To wit, Greene’s 1.46 HR/9 is the next-lowest of his career despite being more than twice as high as last season.
He’s going to strike out plenty of batters with that 100 mph fastball and decent 90 mph slider, but his 89 mph splitter hasn’t really done much. His splits are pretty even despite holding left-handed hitters to a lower average, but that’s because lefties walk and slug better against him. That is the case at home as well, where Greene surprisingly has much better numbers than on the road.
His .145/.201/.280 slash line allowed at GABP is incredible, so the Cubs may need to hope he’s off his game in this one. But hey, all it takes is a mistake or two to open the door to a big inning. This team has been very opportunistic of late, and against a number of good pitchers. Maybe it’s time to go streaking as the playoffs approach.
First pitch is at 6:15pm CT on FOX and 670 The Score.
