Chicago Cubs Lineup (9/11/26): Imanaga Opens Series Against Pirates
The Cubs have lost four in a row and now welcome one of the hottest teams in baseball to Wrigley Field. The Pirates have won four straight and are 8-2 over their last 10 games, tying them with the Dodgers for the best mark over that period. Though they’re still seven games behind the Cubs entering Friday’s action, the Bucs would love to play the role of spoiler.
Shota Imanaga will try to prevent that with a repeat of his last start, which marked the first time since July 25 that he didn’t allow a homer. That outing came against these Pirates, who were scoreless with four hits over six innings against the lefty. In his first start against them this season back on April 10, Imanaga threw six no-hit frames with nine strikeouts and one walk.
He’s limited this roster to a .101/.151/.116 slash with no homers, 25 strikeouts, and four walks in 69 total at-bats. That’s pretty good, and the Cubs could use more of that domination this afternoon. Better yet, they should just make Imanaga’s performance a moot point.
Pete Crow-Armstrong leads off in center, Seiya Suzuki is in right, Michael Busch is at first, and Alex Bregman cleans up at third. Ian Happ patrols left field, Nico Hoerner is at short, Michael Conforto is the DH, and Pedro Ramírez takes second. Carson Kelly bats last as the catcher.
They’re facing 23-year-old righty Wilber Dotel, who is making his first big league start after 17 relief appearances. All but five of those were multi-inning efforts and he made five starts for Triple-A Indianapolis, so he should serve as more than just an opener. An over-the-top thrower, Dotel has gotten good results on a riding fastball that sits a little north of 98 mph. His 88 mph slider and 92 mph cutter have been less effective because he tends to hang them when he’s not spraying them all over.
Those three pitches account for 92% of his repertoire, though left-handed hitters need to be aware of the 87 mph splitter that likewise could end up anywhere. Dotel’s strikeout and walk rates are both above the league averages, and he tends to give up a lot of hard contact because he falls behind frequently. That said, he’s done a really good job of keeping the ball in the yard.
His 4.41 ERA is much worse than his 3.74 expected ERA and 3.10 FIP, which is due to Pittsburgh’s decidedly subpar defense. Between his propensity for allowing baserunners and the Cubs’ recent struggles, you have to think Craig Counsell and his coaches are going to want to be aggressive against the rookie today. But patiently aggressive, at least at the plate. Making him work and then forcing the action with runners on should put them in a good spot.
At the risk of suggesting the Cubs need to start pressing, which can have negative results if players are too focused on results, this isn’t a series they can afford to lose. First pitch is at 1:20pm CT, the last Friday afternoon game of the season, on Marquee and The Score.
