Chicago Cubs Lineup (9/8/26): Peterson Facing Brewers, Miz Again

The good news is that the Cubs just hung five runs on Jacob Misiorowski when they faced him six days ago. The bad news is that the Cubs just hung five runs on Jacob Misiorowski when they faced him six days ago. I’m not sure they can replicate their success after handing the best pitcher on the planet the worst start of his season, but that sure would be nice. It would be even nicer if the Cubs don’t waste that effort like they did last week.

Scoring a handful of runs against Misiorowski meant nothing when they managed just one hit against the bullpen. Then you had the Cubs’ own pitching, which gave up nine runs on 14 hits to make their early offensive outburst irrelevant. David Peterson was on the bump in that one as well, and he was not on his game. The lefty gave up six earned runs on seven hits and four walks, more than nullifying what the bats did early.

You can’t afford to be off against the luck merchants in Milwaukee, and Peterson has to be better tonight. So do the bats, at least when it comes to being consistent. Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center, Seiya Suzuki is in right, Alex Bregman handles the hot corner, and Michael Busch cleans up at first. Nico Hoerner is at short, Ian Happ is in left, Matt Shaw plays second, and Tyrone Taylor is the DH. Miguel Amaya does the catching in this one.

At the risk of coming off as lazy, I don’t think you need me to lay out what Misiorowski can do on the mound. He’s the hardest thrower in the game with some of the best stuff, and it’s going to be exceedingly difficult to get to him twice in a row. Unless his plant foot starts slipping again, which is the excuse he tends to make when he doesn’t pitch well.

Some Brewers fans tried to claim that other grounds crews just don’t know how to maintain the mound properly for a pitcher with his stride length, but his nearly identical splits say otherwise. Miz has actually allowed a higher slugging percentage at home and is markedly better against left-handed hitters when he’s on the road, so it would seem as though any disadvantage is fiction disguised as explanation.

First pitch is at 6:40pm CT on Marquee and The Score.