The Cubs have already played the Dodgers five times this season, winning three of those games. There’s just two more games left in this matchup (today and tomorrow). So if they win one of these two, they’ll take the season-series win with a smile on their face. Here’s the Cubs lineup for today, as they look to get the advantage in the weekend series.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Nico Hoerner, 2B
- Dansby Swanson, SS
- Ian Happ, LF
- Seiya Suzuki, RF
- Cody Bellinger, CF
- Patrick Wisdom, 3B
- Eric Hosmer, 1B
- Trey Mancini, DH
- Tucker Barnhart, C
No surprises in the Cubs lineup today. We’ve got our usual first base-DH swap between Eric Hosmer and Trey Mancini, and the same thing behind the plate with Yan Gomes and Tucker Barnhart. And given May’s traditional lefty/righty splits, Barnhart makes some sense anyway. Until Matt Mervis, Chris Morel, or Nelson Velázquez come up, this is going to be the group – and order – on most days.
Los Angeles Dodgers Lineup:
Pitching Matchup:
Chicago Cubs: Hayden Wesneski, RHP
Hayden Wesneski’s most recent start (against the Athletics) was his best start of the season, by far. But mostly just in terms of results. He still battled significant command issues early on, leaving far too many pitches over the heart of the plate, getting away with it only because he was facing the A’s. He did lock himself in a bit as the game went on, but he probably wouldn’t have even made it that far against a better team. He’d tell you so, himself. That said, it’s gotta feel good to finally get the results. So maybe he can build off that outing and be a little better against a much better Dodgers lineup this afternoon.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Dustin May, RHP
Dustin May was one of the top prospects in MLB as recently as 2020, but he hasn’t quite gotten his career off the ground yet. Don’t get me wrong, he’s performed well when he has pitched. He just hasn’t pitched all that often (29 career starts from 2019-2023). But he’s still only 25, and this may well be his big breakout season. May has made four starts so far this year, and all but the last one against the Mets were pretty good: 3 earned runs through his first 18.1 IP (and then 5 earned runs in 5.2 IP against the Mets). You *can* get to him, especially lefties, but he’s a good pitcher. He’s got a 97-98 MPH four-seamer, a 97 MPH sinker, a 93-94 MPH cutter, and an 85.5 MPH slider that I think Statcast is classifying as a curveball (but it has too much horizontal movement to be a curveball). Anyway, the Cubs lineup will have a tough matchup.
Broadcast Info:
Chicago Cubs (12-7) vs Los Angeles Dodgers (10-11) at 1:20 pm CT on Marquee Sports Network, 670 The Score