Chicago Cubs Lineup (8/10/25): Busch Leads Off, Shaw at 3B, Imanaga Starting
The Cubs poured it on last night, knocking Cardinals starter Andre Pallante out of the game in the 2nd inning before eventually racking up nine runs on 13 hits. Colin Rea gave up just one run on three hits over six innings of work, quieting concerns about not replacing him in the rotation. For a few days, anyway.
Now comes a chance to put together a mini streak ahead of games against the Blue Jays and Pirates. This next stretch is of great importance because the Cubs will play the Brewers five times starting next Monday. The real key is preventing the divisional gap from growing beyond its present disparity, as the Cubs would need to sweep the Brewers just to move into a tie.
First things first, Shōta Imanaga is on the bump in St. Louis to get a series win. The lefty was able to prevent a sweep in Milwaukee last week and pitched well against the Cards in St. Louis a little over a month ago, plus he’s regained his impeccable command after struggles early in the season. His hiccup on the South Side appears to be just that, an aberration that doesn’t indicate bigger problems.
My preference would be for the Cubs to threaten double-digit runs again, making the starter’s performance academic. Michael Busch leads off at first, Seiya Suzuki is the DH, Kyle Tucker is in right, and Carson Kelly is behind the dish. Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center, Ian Happ is in left, Nico Hoerner is at second, Dansby Swanson is at short, and Matt Shaw is at third.
It won’t be easy against Sonny Gray, even if the 35-year-old is starting to show his age a little bit. Gray’s varied repertoire keeps hitters guessing, but his average fastball is below 92 mph for the first time in his career and his sinker hasn’t been nearly as effective. Gray must be a major supinator because his fastball cuts to a major degree, maybe more than anyone else, and all of his other pitches have pronounced glove-side movement as well.
His sweeper and curve remain solid weapons, with the latter being used much more against lefties. The changeup is the only pitch Gray almost never throws to righties, but it’s gotten worse in each of the last few years and it’s not a primary offering for him. That said, he’s got five other pitches he can throw to any batter in any count. If something isn’t working in a given start, he can pivot and make do.
Always a pretty split-neutral pitcher, Gray has struggled against right-handed hitters this season as the sinker he throws more frequently to them fades. And I don’t mean its shape. That pitch has tended to leak out over a plate a lot more than in the past, providing far too many mistakes for opposing hitters to attack. Despite facing 38 fewer righty batters, they have hit 11 of the 16 homers Gray has allowed.
That bodes well for the Cubs tonight, especially when you see that his splits at home favor righties to an even greater extent. They’ve still got to play the game, though, so we’ll just have to see what happens.
First pitch was scheduled for 6:10pm CT on ESPN and Marquee, but it has been announced the start will be delayed by inclement weather.
