Chicago Cubs Lineup (5/17/26): Conforto DH, Rea Pitching

I hope none of you were as dumb as I am and didn’t get caught up in the kayfabe of that Netflix MMA event last night. The card was filled with over-the-hill fighters who should not have been out there — looking at you, Nate Diaz — and the headlining event was even more of a joke than I could have imagined. Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano have been out of the game for so long that you knew this was nothing more than a money grab. But they could have at least faked it for more than the 17 seconds it took for Rousey to get Carano in an arm bar.

Last night’s Cubs game looked more like the Diaz fight, with Jameson Taillon playing the role of the defeated fighter as he took blow after blow from the White Sox. I kept thinking of the “Stop, stop, he’s already dead!” Simpson’s meme during both broadcasts, and I genuinely felt bad for Jamo after Colson Montgomery hit his team’s third homer and second of the inning.

My son wondered aloud why Taillon was still in the game, to which I responded that the starter was going to have to wear it in light of the bullpen situation. Sure enough, the righty pitched into the 6th inning before Craig Counsell finally threw in the towel following a homer from Andrew Benintendi to lead off the frame. That was Taillon’s 16th home run allowed this season, five more than any other pitcher in the majors.

It’s a good thing Matthew Boyd is already throwing off the mound just 10 days removed from arthroscopic knee surgery, because it’s looking like this might be more than a hiccup for Taillon. Colin Rea had a vurp of his own last week in Atlanta, giving up two homers and taking just his second loss of the season. He also struck out only one of the 20 batters he faced, which is never a good sign.

The pride of Cascade, Iowa has to be better this afternoon, and the bats need to show up as well. Nico Hoerner is leading off back at second, Michael Busch is at first, and Alex Bregman is at third. Ian Happ cleans up in left, Seiya Suzuki is in right, Michael Conforto is the DH, and Carson Kelly does the catching. Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center and Dansby Swanson handles short.

They’re facing Erick Fedde, whose circuitous journey has brought him back to the Sox for his second stint in three seasons. After several years in Washington, he defected to the KBO and pitched well enough to earn a two-year, $15 million contract from the South Siders. He was traded to St. Louis at the following deadline in a three-team deal that included nine other players. The Cards traded Fedde to the Braves a year later, but he was released after only five appearances.

He signed with the Brewers on August 27, 2025, but was designated for assignment on September 28. Fedde elected free agency that October, then signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Sox this past February. While I admire his perseverance, this dude also reminds me a lot of the fighters I watched last night. Which is to say he strikes me more as what you might call a tomato can or a palooka, as rude as that may sound.

The 33-year-old righty sits in the 12th percentile or lower for fastball run value, chase rate, whiff rate, and strikeout rate. Always a junkballer, he’s leaned even more heavily into his sweeper this year. He throws it nearly 40% of the time, which he kinda has to since it’s his only plus pitch. It gets lots of horizontal movement, creating uncomfortable looks for opposing hitters.

Fedde almost never throws a four-seam, preferring a cutty sinker that he locates up in the zone. Here’s a question: If your sinker has less arm-side run than all but three other pitchers in MLB and you typically throw it up in the zone to the glove side, is it really a sinker? Whatever you want to call it, the pitch’s -5 run value ranks 109th out of 110 qualified pitchers.

The weird thing is that Fedde has stifled left-handed batters with his ability to fire that sweeper in on them. Righties, however, carry a .915 OPS with nine homers against him into this one. I’d have gone with a right-handed DH for that reason, and I’m a little surprised that Craig Counsell opted for Conforto. That’s probably because Fedde’s career splits are almost neutral, not to mention Conforto’s relative success against him.

On the whole, this Cubs roster is slashing .309/.362/.495 with four homers in 97 at-bats when Fedde is on the mound. This is easily one of the most advantageous matchups they’ve had all season, and I fully expect them to take advantage of it.

First pitch is at 1:10pm CT on all of the same local TV and radio stations as the first two games in the series.

For the series.

Tune in live on @WatchMarquee. pic.twitter.com/yKtzF1cppS

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 17, 2026