Chicago Cubs Lineup (7/3/26): Andre’s No Giant, Peterson Makes Cubs Home Debut
Update: Inclement weather in the area has pushed the start of the game back to 3:15pm CT.
Just a heads-up to those who actually drop by to read my matchup analysis: I’m going to be more or less mailing it in over the weekend. This is the only stretch of the summer when my son isn’t playing, so I’m going to do my best to turn off my brain — even though some of you may question whether it’s ever turned on — and relax for a few days.
The Cubs could make that a lot easier by continuing to play like they have been and keeping me from being too concerned about the outcomes of each game. Having David Peterson on the bump should be a good thing with the wind blowing out, as he does a pretty good job of keeping the ball in the yard. He settled down nicely after allowing a homer to the first batter he faced as a Cub, and he’ll get a nice boost from his new home crowd.
Pitching has hardly mattered with the way the bats are going, and staying hot will make Peterson’s job much simpler. Newly minted NL Player of the Month Pete Crow-Armstrong leads off in center, followed by Alex Bregman at third base and Michael Busch across the infield. Seiya Suzuki plays right, Ian Happ — who leads all left fielders with 121 homers since 2020 — is in left, Nico Hoerner is at second, and Michael Conforto is the DH. Carson Kelly does the catching and Dansby Swanson is at short.
They’re facing 27-year-old righty Andre Pallante, who has one of the most aesthetically displeasing deliveries this side of Brent Suter. It’s as though a T. rex with long arms decided to learn how to pitch, what with that glove arm pulling so hard and then clearing out way behind him. There are very strong shades of Chris Bassitt in here as well.
As much as I dislike watching Pallante pitch, though, I must applaud him for not letting a coach “fix” him along the way. Way too many kids end up broken because some dude decided to change them just because he didn’t like the way they threw or swung.
If previous results are any indication, the Cubs should have no problem scoring runs this afternoon. Pallante has performed pretty well overall, but has allowed Cubs hitters to slash .382/.453/.618 with four homers and six doubles in 76 at-bats.
He throws his 95 mph four-seam only 31% of the time, but it’s only 9% against right-handed hitters. Righties see mainly slider/sinker, with a healthy dose of curveballs mixed in as well. Lefties get almost 50% heaters with the curve and slider accounting for about 41% of the mix. Pallante’s breaking stuff has a run value of 4, which is down a run from when he faced the Cubs in late May.
Some tweaks to his repertoire from previous seasons have him pitching to more traditional splits, and he’s maintained a high groundball rate as well. That said, Cubs righties have tuned him up pretty good. Pallante gives up a ton of contact, but he does as good a job as Peterson when it comes to keeping the ball on the ground. Unless they can get a few up into the breeze, the Cubs may need to win this the old-fashioned way.
I don’t think that’s going to be an issue. First pitch is at 3:05pm CT on Marquee and The Score.
