Chicago Cubs Lineup (3/15/26): Shaw in CF, Amaya DH, Taillon Returns
It’s Sunday and the Cubs are back at Sloan for an exceedingly rare game featuring both TV and radio coverage. The club is gradually getting back to full strength as the WBC winds down, and that will be on display with Jameson Taillon, fresh off his run with Team Canada, toeing the slab this afternoon. He has not looked sharp at all in Cactus League action, but it looks like international competition may have given him a boost.
The main goal for today is to keep stretching out while also trying to avoid giving up multiple home runs for the first time in four starts.
The Dodgers are sending a reduced split-squad to Sloan, but the Cubs have a bunch of regulars in the lineup. Michael Busch leads off at first, Nico Hoerner is at second, and Ian Happ is in left. Dansby Swanson cleans up at short, Carson Kelly is the catcher, Michael Conforto is in right, and Matt Shaw is in center. Miguel Amaya is the DH and Pedro Ramirez is third.
Starting for the Dodgers is 26-year-old righty Emmet Sheehan, a sixth-round pick out of Boston College in 2021. Sheehan has put up monster strikeout numbers in the minors, punching out 278 batters in just over 166 innings, and he’s got 153 in 133.2 big league innings. After missing all of 2024 due to elbow reconstruction, Sheehan bounced back with a very strong performance as a swing starter last year.
In addition to maintaining very consistent velocity at around 96 mph, he improved his control to a significant degree. He will locate his high-ride heater up in the zone, pairing it with one of the better sliders in the game to get lots of chases and whiffs. Sheehan’s changeup is very good as well, getting good depth and arm-side run to make it effective against hitters on both sides of the plate.
If this guy can stay healthy, he will be yet another example of LA’s development machine. And if that doesn’t pan out, they can always go out and buy another free agent or three.
First pitch is at 3:05pm CT on Marquee and The Score.
