Chicago Cubs Lineup (4/16/25): Suzuki & Kelly Return, Berti at 3B, Boyd Starting
The Cubs have now handed the Padres their first home loss of the season after giving them their first loss of the season back at Wrigley. Shōta Imanaga was on the bump for both of those and the bullpen was nails in each game as well. Tuesday was a much different proposition, with relievers having to cover five innings of scoreless baseball to pull out the 2-1 victory. It was very encouraging to see a reworked bullpen issue just one walk as well.
That win puts the Cubs in position to win their fifth consecutive series and head back home with a 4-2 trip to Southern California. Then again, Tom Ricketts might be pulling for a loss this afternoon so his team can reach its goal of breaking even. Wait, that’s not what he meant, is it?
In addition to the mercy of an afternoon affair, this next stretch of games is punctuated by several off-days. The Cubs haven’t played on a Thursday since their domestic opener in Arizona and won’t do so again until May 1 at Pittsburgh, plus they have no Monday games left this month. That will give Craig Counsell and the front office plenty of room to manage the pitching staff through rest and/or personnel moves.
Even though Colin Rea was quite good against the Dodgers, the Cubs can shift him back to the bullpen and roll with a four-man rotation until May 3 against the Brewers in Milwaukee. All the extra days off mean each of their primary starters will be on regular rest at a minimum, with five days between starts at least once for each. Javier Assad just went 3.1 innings in his first rehab start for Iowa and should be stretched out enough by then to take a spot in the rotation or bullpen as needed.
Along with recent reinforcements, the upcoming schedule gives Counsell more freedom to deploy guys as needed. The same is true for Matthew Boyd, who has been at 85 pitches or above in all three starts and just tossed 98 against the Dodgers. He can stay out for 6+ innings if he’s dealing or can be pulled early if he’s shaky. Good to not go into the rubber match needing a stopper-typer performance from your starter.
It would certainly help if the offense can muster a few more runs after squeaking by with a pair last night and losing behind four scores on Monday. Ian Happ will lead off in left, followed by Kyle Tucker in right and Seiya Suzuki back in the DH spot for the first time since exiting last Saturday’s game with a wrist injury. Michael Busch cleans up at first, Dansby Swanson is at short, Nico Hoerner is the second baseman, and Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center. Carson Kelly is back after being hit on the left hand by a pitch in Sunday’s game, and speed merchant Jon Berti takes third base.
They’re up against Nick Pivetta, who was on the bump opposing Boyd back at Wrigley when these teams fist squared off. The bit righty’s 93 mph cut-ride fastball almost goes off Baseball Savant’s induced break chart, as does his huge bender. Pivetta is able to do this because he’s got a super over-the-top release that generates extreme north-south movement. Being a supinator creates cut on the four-seam and explains the lack of a changeup.
Pivetta will throw his sweeper almost exclusively to right-handed batters, while the curve is typically only thrown to lefties. The Cubs saw all of his pitches well in that first matchup, picking up six hits with a homer and also walking three times in as many innings. They made Pivetta throw 76 pitches in that short outing, handing him a loss in the only one of his three starts that didn’t go seven innings.
I think we see a better version of the righty this afternoon, but the Cubs have shown they can win in a number of different ways. It sure would be nice to see the bats wake up again to earn another series win on getaway day. First pitch is at 3:10pm CT on Marquee and 670 The Score.
One more on the West Coast.
Watch it live on the Marquee Sports Network App. pic.twitter.com/5zLvfz2ofX
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 16, 2025
