Chicago Cubs Lineup (9/20/25): Busch Leads Off, Mo Baller DH, Assad Starting

Raise your hand if you remember the days when having three or four nights of little/poor sleep just meant you might have to take a nap during the afternoon to feel refreshed. I’m so jealous of my younger self right now because my current self is both sleep-deprived and an idiot. Just having a few restless nights would be one thing, but I also had to wake up early for a Thursday flight and then did a four-park Disney blitz that included over 22,000 steps.

I must say, however, that I much prefer that kind of tactical approach to the one-park-a-day slog. I don’t consider myself a Disney Adult, hypocritical as that may sound, but I find a good measure of joy in perusing the parks by myself because I’m beholden to no one else and can do what I want at my leisure. I hit Hollywood Studios just for Rise of the Resistance; then Animal Kingdom for Expedition Everest and Avatar; next was Magic Kingdom for Tron; the last stop was Epcot for Guardians of the Galaxy — which I consider the best ride of them all — and a tour of the Food and Wine Festival.

The key for me was to use Lyft instead of the Disney buses or other transportation to get from park to park, which was both faster and more informative. One of my drivers works security at the Magic Kingdom in the evenings, so he shared all kinds of interesting little tips and tricks. Another was married to a zookeeper at Animal Kingdom and was just one of the best dudes around, so that really added to the adventure. The downside is that I’ll be feeling it for several more days yet.

The Cubs are playing baseball in much the same way after clinching a postseason berth on Wednesday afternoon in Pittsburgh. They haven’t lost any ground because the Padres have likewise dropped two in a row, but this weekend won’t be any easier as the Reds keep pressing for their own postseason spot. Now two games over .500 and just two behind the Mets for the final Wild Card entry, Cincy is riding its excellent pitching to great effect.

That means Javier Assad may have to step up in a big way tonight as he slides back to the rotation after one relief appearance to give the starting unit more length. Assad has had a devil of a time missing bats, though he has at least avoided barrels while getting lots of grounders. He’ll have to be sharper in this one to keep the opportunistic Reds hitters from piling on.

Or maybe the Cubs could consider scoring more than four runs for the third time in nine games. Michael Busch will lead off at first, followed by Nico Hoerner at second and Ian Happ in left. Moises Ballesteros is the DH, Dansby Swanson is at short, Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center, and Matt Shaw moves all the way up to seventh at third base. Willi Castro handles right field and Reese McGuire is the catcher.

They’re facing righty Zack Littell, who has had his own struggles with strikeouts this season. His short arm stroke produces very little extension, which may contribute to his relative inability to put batters away despite getting a lot of chase. His whiff and strikeout rates are in the 16th percentile or lower, which isn’t great for a guy who throws a ton of strikes. Littell pitches backwards, favoring his slider and splitter (both 28%) over his 92 mph four-seam (23%).

The 87 mph slider sees almost even usage to batters on both sides of the plate, while the 83-84 mph splitter is thrown more often to lefties. Unlike most offspeed pitches, though, Littell still deploys it relatively liberally to right-handed hitters. He’s also got a 92 mph sinker and an 80 mph sweeper, the latter of which is his only pitch that has really lopsided splits (much more to righties).

Littell has always produced fairly mild reverse splits, and that continues to be the case this year as right-handed batters have performed better against him across the board. Oddly enough, that is a product of left-handed hitters being far worse against him at a ballpark that is typically much more conducive to lefty power. Littell has pitched kind of like Matthew Boyd lately, so maybe the Cubs can elevate his numbers further in this one.

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

Game three in Cincy.

Watch tonight’s game on the Marquee Sports Network App. pic.twitter.com/A9wClc9eOw

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 20, 2025