Chicago Cubs Lineup (4/26/26): Hoerner at SS, Swanson DH, Shaw 2B, Imanaga Starting
Most of our readers are probably old enough to remember Minesweeper, a rudimentary computer game that once competed with solitaire when it came to time-wasters included in PCs. Throughout much of the Cubs’ 10-game winning streak, it felt a little as though they were navigating a virtual minefield and just waiting to click on the wrong square. That blew up in their collective face last night as Colin Rea and Javier Assad, the team’s top rotation replacements, surrendered six earned runs apiece.
No streak can last in perpetuity and you’ll have bad games, but all the pitching injuries have served to narrow the path Craig Counsell‘s squad must navigate. It was just one loss, however, so they’ve still got a chance to win the series this afternoon behind the left arm of Shota Imanaga. After giving up four earned runs in his first start, he’s given up just three over his last four starts. He’s also allowed a total of nine hits in those four games, three each in three and none in the other.
Most of the runs he’s given up have come on homers, which is par for the course, but he’s obviously limited the damage. It’s pretty good when you rack up 25 strikeouts to just four walks, though he had just one K over seven innings against the Phillies the last time out. That was in stark contrast to his 20 punchouts over the two previous games, and he’ll need to get back to generating more whiffs against the dangerous Dodgers offense.
Cubs hitters need to keep up their end of the bargain, which they did not last night. Trailing 8-4 in the top of the 6th, they loaded the bases with no outs, then proceeded to squander the opportunity with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout. That can’t happen if they want to win this one.
Today’s lineup isn’t unusual, but the positions are. Nico Hoerner will lead off and play short, then it’s Alex Bregman at third and Ian Happ in left. Seiya Suzuki bats cleanup in right, Carson Kelly is the catcher, Michael Busch is at first, and Dansby Swanson serves as the DH. Matt Shaw takes second and Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center.
Their opponent this afternoon is lefty Justin Wrobleski, who is something of an enigma in what figures to be his first full season in the bigs. He made 24 appearances with two starts last year, posting a 27.1% strikeout rate that put him in the 80th percentile. Wrobleski also got grounders at a 51.1% clip, putting him in the 86th percentile. He had a balanced attack that featured a 96 mph fastball (29%), an 88 mph slider (25%), and a 95 mph sinker (21%), with a cutter (14%), curve (9%), and change (3%) used more sparingly.
To this point in the season, his fastball is sitting just under 94 mph and he’s throwing it 52% of the time. His slider is likewise down two full ticks and is up to 33% of his arsenal. He throws his curve 8% of the time, but the other offerings are almost nonexistent. The result has been a precipitous drop in his whiff (12%) and strikeout (9.8%) rates, both of which are in the first percentile.
Among pitchers with at least 20 innings this season, only Tyler Rogers (11.2%) gets fewer whiffs. There are a few who strike batters out at a lower rate, notably Hoby Milner (6.1%), but the point is that the Cubs should be able to create plenty of contact today. Part of the issue for Wrobleski is that he gets only 5.5 feet of extension, putting him in the second percentile and lowering his perceived velocity. When combined with his actual velo drop and reduced pitch variety, it’s clear that hitters are not being fooled.
His 1.88 ERA indicates otherwise, but it sure looks like there’s a whole lot of good fortune involved. Wrobleski’s .205 BABIP against is 84 points below league average and lower than all but 11 of the 136 MLB pitchers who’ve logged at least 20 innings. Pay no attention to the fact that Imanaga is one of those, with a .179 mark that comes in above only Paul Skenes (.174) and Drew Rasmussen (.159). Some of that is based in skill, as good pitchers create more of the kind of bad contact that results in outs. However, Skenes’ average over his first two seasons was about 100 points higher than it is so far.
Imanaga has always been better than most, though he’s due for a little correction as well. Wrobleski, on the other hand, is putting up such wild numbers across the board that water is most definitely going to have to find its level. That means he’s probably going to start striking more guys out, but he’s going to start paying the price for leaving all those fastballs over the middle of the plate. It sure would be nice if the regression bug bit him hard right out of the gate.
First pitch is at 3:10pm on Marquee and The Score.
Game three in LA.
Watch the game live on @WatchMarquee. pic.twitter.com/kU665uOBhp
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 26, 2026
