Chicago Cubs Lineup (8/23/22, Game 1): Assad Debuts, McKinstry at Second, Morel at Third

The Chicago Cubs play a doubleheader today with the hopes of taking at least one of two against the St. Louis Cardinals. They couldn’t figure out Cardinals’ starter Jordan Montgomery in the series opener on Monday, with just one hit over his dominant complete-game outing. The Cubs will have to do better on offense if they’re going to have any chance today.

Javier Assad will get his first MLB start today as a call-up from the Iowa Cubs. Between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa, Assad has been very good this year, with a 2.66 ERA over 26 games. Getting your first pro start against guys like Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado is the baseball equivalent of being thrown to the lions. So Assad probably throws a no-hitter, right?

Zach McKinstry leads off at second, Nico Hoerner is at short, Ian Happ is in left, Seiya Suzuki is in right, and Franmil Reyes is DH. Rafael Ortega is in center, Yan Gomes is catching, P.J. Higgins is at first, and Christopher Morel is playing third.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:20pm CT from beautiful and historic Wrigley Field.

Let's play two! pic.twitter.com/4agM1l2vOF

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 23, 2022