Chicago Sports Today

Chicago Sports News continuously updated

Chicago Cubs Lineup (3/4/25): Potential Opening Day Preview, PCA Returns, Imanaga Starting

by


The Cubs have now lost two straight since activating Matt Shaw and they may never win another game as long as he’s around. Alas, they’ll try to get back to their winning ways against a split-squad version of the Padres that does not appear to be a reasonable facsimile of the real thing. That could be good for Shōta Imanaga, who gave up three runs on as many hits in his first start of the spring. He did strike out six batters over 2.2 innings, though, so the stuff was there.

The best news of the day is that Pete Crow-Armstrong is back in the lineup after being scratched from yesterday’s game with what was described as a slight hamstring strain or just a little tweak. Either way, having him in action again so quickly at a time when clubs exercise extreme caution is a good thing.

This looks like the lineup we could see in Tokyo here in a couple weeks, with Ian Happ leading off in left, Kyle Tucker at DH, and Seiya Suzuki in right. Michael Busch bats cleanup at first base, Shaw is at third, Dansby Swanson is the shortstop, and Crow-Armstrong is in center, Miguel Amaya is behind the dish and Jon Berti gets the start at second base.


(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

They’re facing righty knuckleballer Matt Waldron, who Cubs fans hope isn’t nearly as good as his namesake at preventing offense by a Chicago team. The 28-year-old debuted with the Padres in 2023 and spent most of the season in the big leagues last year, making 26 starts in 27 appearances and posting a 4.91 ERA with moderately better peripherals.

I was surprised to see he only had five wild pitches last season, but Padres catchers led baseball with 16 passed balls thanks in part to Waldron’s signature pitch. For example, Kyle Higashioka had seven PBs on the knuckler last season. His Baseball Savant movement profile is unlike anything you’ll see from a traditional pitcher, what with the crazy sawed-off shotgun blast of distribution points.

For this reason alone, I’m very happy this is a home game with coverage on Marquee. Just look at this fun stuff.

First pitch is at 2:05pm CT on Marquee, so make sure to tune in early to catch the butterfly effect.


(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});


(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

The post Chicago Cubs Lineup (3/4/25): Potential Opening Day Preview, PCA Returns, Imanaga Starting appeared first on .