Chicago Cubs Lineup (9/25/26, Game 1): Holmes Starting, Bregman at DH
This is the start of what could be a very wild weekend, as the Cubs are fighting for the top Wild Card spot while possibly being forced to Florida to complete their series against a Red Sox team that has already secured its spot. Meanwhile, the Padres are hosting the Diamondbacks with all kinds of playoff implications. The Pads could drop from the top Wild Card spot, and the D-backs could bump the Phillies out entirely.
The lineup was already out when I started this, so it’s going to be a quick one. Clay Holmes is on the bump to get the twin bill started, and it’d be really helpful if he could mow down this Red Sox lineup efficiently. That’s when he’s at his best, just getting lots of grounders and not even worrying much about missing bats. Getting more than two runs sure would help too.
Pete Crow-Armstrong is now just playing for the highest fWAR season in Cubs history after getting into the 40/40 club, and I have a feeling he’ll do something special today. Seiya Suzuki is in right, Alex Bregman returns to the lineup as the DH, and Tyrone Taylor is in left. Nico Hoerner plays second, Matt Shaw is at third, Michael Busch plays first, and Dansby Swanson takes short. Miguel Amaya is the catcher for this one.
They’re facing lefty Alec Gamboa, no relation to former Cubs coach Tom Gamboa or former Cub Larry Bowa, a 29-year-old rookie who is making just his third MLB start. Drafted in the ninth round by the Dodgers in 2019, Gamboa worked his way up to Triple-A last year before heading to Korea. That led to a minor league deal with the Red Sox, who promoted him in May. He’s been bounced back and forth between Worcester and Boston, with his sixth selection/recall coming on August 12.
Gamboa has just a 1.16 ERA over 31 innings, and he’s only worked as many as four innings in any MLB appearance this season. Both of his starts, however, lasted just four outs because he was serving as an opener. The Red Sox are really just trying to set up their postseason staff, so Gamboa may go a little deeper to preserve the bullpen. If any high-leverage guys show up, it’s probably just to keep them sharp.
The Cubs are going to get a weird look today, as Gamboa throws from an extreme over-the-top slot. Very few pitchers in the game have a higher arm angle than his 61 degrees, so expect a whole lot of north/south action from him. Or maybe just south, interestingly enough, as he tends to throw his 95-96 mph cut-ride fastball down in the zone. Same goes for his 94 mph sinker.
Those two pitches are his bread and butter, driving almost all of his value by getting loads of contact on the ground. Gamboa is very susceptible to contact, but he has given up just one homer in the bigs. That is not a great matchup for a Cubs team that has struggled to push runs across, so they may not be able to rely on that homer-or-bust strategy this afternoon.
First pitch is at 1:05pm CT on Marquee and The Score.
