Chicago Cubs Lineup (3/11/25): Possible Game 2 Preview as Steele Starts
This is the Cubs’ last game before heading out to Tokyo, where they’ll play two exhibition games prior to their series against the Dodgers. All of the games in Japan will be broadcast on Marquee Sports Network, with the Spring Breakout contests this Thursday and Saturday playing on MLB Network. There will be no games at all on Wednesday, next Monday, and next Thursday, so those of you who don’t get Marquee are in for a very quiet week-plus.
There will still be some regulars going today, starting with Justin Steele on the bump to face the Brewers from Sloan Park. The lefty missed his last scheduled start due to flu-like symptoms, which prompted 670 The Score to use his image on a tweet about the Cubs’ injury issues. Anyway, he’s been getting work in on the side and is going to need to ramp pretty significantly from throwing just 28 and 33 pitches in his first two starts. Even with post-start bullpens to build up, in-game pitches are a different animal.
I’d guess we’ll see him try to push to 50 or so this afternoon, which means maybe getting to 60 in his start against the Dodgers. Steele has worked very efficiently in his limited action and could parlay that abbreviated count into at least five innings, which would be ideal given the nature of the games over in Japan.
The lineup behind Steele looks like the same one we’ll see in his Tokyo start, with Ian Happ in left, Seiya Suzuki at DH, and Kyle Tucker in right. Michael Busch is at first, Dansby Swanson is at short, Matt Shaw — who will head to Japan with the team — is at third, and Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center. Carson Kelly is behind the dish and Jon Berti is at second base.
Ed. note: There has been no official announcement about Shaw, thus no corresponding move has been made to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. More on that as it comes out.
They’re facing 22-year-old Jacob Misiorowski, who reportedly loves company. Milwaukee’s second-round pick in 2022 out of Crowder College, Misiorowski is a lanky righty with a big fastball that has an 80-grade future value. The heater sat 98 mph at Triple-A last season and made up roughly 55% of his pitches, with the curve accounting for almost 30% more. His cutter, sinker, and slider made up the rest. He figures to be a big part of the Brewers’ plans this season, but his role may be determined by how much he can improve his control.
With 109 walks in 170.1 professional innings so far, the young man puts himself in a lot of tough spots and often has trouble working deep into games. Though he started all 19 Double-A games he pitched in last year, he made just two starts in 14 Triple-A appearances. This will be his third start in four Cactus League games, and he’s gotten mixed results so far. After walking three with one strikeout and two runs allowed in just one inning to open the spring, Misiorowski gave up a dinger and two runs with one strikeout over two innings of relief.
In his last start, he fanned three with no walks or hits in three innings against the A’s. I’m not sure this is accurate or just a product of some ballparks not keeping accurate counts, but it says he needed only 15 pitches, all strikes, to complete those three frames. I’m leaning toward incomplete data since every strikeout took just three pitches and every batted-ball out was on the first pitch.
Still, this is the Brew Crew’s No. 4 prospect (No. 99 overall) and he has some serious stuff if he figures out how to land more strikes. First pitch is 3:05pm CT on Marquee and MLB Network (out-of-market only).
