Chicago Cubs Lineup (5/19/26): Happ Stays at Cleanup, Mo Baller at DH, Brown Bump Day

The Cubs are holding onto first place in the NL Central, but last night’s loss pulled the Brewers within just half a game. That means Milwaukee has gained five games in the standings over the last 10, mainly because the Cubs left the door wide open with a 3-7 slide. The big picture looks a lot better, though, so it’s important for Craig Counsell to keep his team focused on moving forward and getting back to playing better baseball.

Much easier said than done given their opponent tonight, but Ben Brown has been incredible all season. He hasn’t allowed a run in either of his two starts, and he’s given up just one total earned run over his last 10 appearances. Much of his success has come from keeping the ball out of the air with help from his new sinker. Brown has only gone four innings in each of those starts, but continuing to pitch efficiently will see him work a little deeper tonight.

It’ll help if the offense can give him a little cushion, which hasn’t been happening often enough lately. And even though the fans have strong opinions about how to get things turned back in the right direction, Counsell isn’t letting outsiders make decisions for him. Nico Hoener leads off at second, Michael Busch is at first, and Alex Bregman is at third. Ian Happ remains the leadoff hitter and left fielder, Seiya Suzuki bats fifth in right, and Moisés Ballesteros gets a chance to show that he can still hit as the DH.

Dansby Swanson moves up to the seven spot at short, Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center, and Miguel Amaya does the catching. This is a group that should be able to score enough runs to win, but they’re up against a phenom who hasn’t been letting anyone score lately.

That would be Jacob Misiorowski, whose 99.6 mph fastball trails only Edgardo Henriquez (100.2) and Mason Miller (101.3) in terms of average velo. The latter two are relievers, by the way. Misiorowski throws his four-seam about 61% of the time, so his 506 total fastballs trail only former teammate Freddy Peralta. Miller has thrown only 148 fastballs, and Henriquez has thrown only 98. What I’m saying is that The Miz being able to maintain that velo over that many more pitches is insane.

Then there’s the 94.6 mph slider that sits nearly three ticks above any others in the game. You can call it a cutter if you like, but StatCast has it as a slider. Of the 366 qualified pitchers listed at Baseball Savant, 201 throw their fastball slower than Misiorowski’s slider. Not to mention his 7.5-foot extension is second only to Logan Gilbert (7.6), meaning his stuff plays up even higher.

Again, the dude is an alien.

Misioroski has one of the more balanced arsenals when it comes to platoon splits because he throws so hard that he doesn’t need to tailor his stuff to the hitters. His fastball usage is identical, with left-handed hitters seeing fewer sliders, slightly more curveballs, and a handful more changeups. He’s only thrown the change a total of 16 times, so it’s hardly worth discussing.

One of the things that makes his fastball so effective is that he likes to locate it on the glove side, but with more arm-side movement than an average four-seam. He can basically front-door lefties with it, making the slider even more effective as hammers in on their hands. That’s why he’s pitching to reverse splits, with lefties batting only .125 against him so far. That drops to .094 with a .193 wOBA when he’s on the road, though we’re only talking about three games against weaker opponents.

Depending on how you choose to look at it, the Cubs are either getting him at the exact right time or the worst possible time. Misiorowski has allowed no runs on six hits over his last three starts, and he’s struck out 29 with four walks. We’re talking about just 18 innings, with his seven-inning start last week standing as his longest of the season. Manager Pat Murphy isn’t going to push the youngster, so the Cubs are really just playing to keep it close until the bullpen gets involved.

Unless, of course, this is one of the inevitable hiccups he’ll have. Paul Skenes got rocked the other day, so anything is possible. Miz showed some control problems in the early going, and he’ll give up some very loud contact if hitters can catch up to his heater. The Cubs might need to flash some power because stringing together hits against this guy has been next to impossible lately. And besides, we’ve seen what happens when they depend on timely hits.

No matter what happens, this should be a fun one for people who like seeing pitchers with god-tier stuff. First pitch is at 6:40pm CT on Marquee and The Score.

Another evening at @ofcwrigleyfield.

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— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 19, 2026