Chicago Cubs Lineup (5/20/25): Happ Returns to Leadoff Spot, Taillon Tossing
The Cubs lost a see-saw game last night in which they just couldn’t keep the mighty Marlins off the board. Part of the problem was the short-handed bullpen, a product of Porter Hodge being out due to an oblique issue. That forced Daniel Palencia to make his third appearance in four games to try and close what had been a 7-6 Cubs lead.
Even if the Cubs are able to get some strong high-leverage innings from Brad Keller in an elevated role, Palencia will still get a lot of work late in games. Ryan Pressly may be able to earn his spot back as well, but he’s still got as many walks as strikeouts (9) on the season. As always, though, the best bet is for the starters to avoid digging big holes.
Ben Brown was unable to do that on Monday as he did his best Jameson Taillon impersonation by allowing back-to-back homers in the bottom of the 1st. Brown looked great during the middle of his appearance, but those bun innings meant it was a shit sandwich just the same. Taillon is going tonight, and he’ll have to do better than the last time out against this team.
He gave up three dingers, one less than in his previous start, and took the loss in the series finale. Taillon did manage to strike out a season-high seven batters with no walks, but the problem is that he continues to throw too many hittable strikes. While he’s limited the damage from all the hard contact by not allowing many free runners, there’s a point at which the barrage is overwhelming.
The offense did its part yesterday, as seven runs should be enough to win against pretty much anyone. They’ll try to do the same again and hope for better pitching. Ian Happ has been activated from the IL and is right back in the leadoff spot and left field, followed by Seiya Suzuki in right and Kyle Tucker at DH. Carson Kelly is catching and cleaning up, Dansby Swanson is at short, and Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center. Nico Hoerner is at second, Justin Turner is at first, and Matt Shaw handles third base.
They’re facing lefty Ryan Weathers for the second time in a week as he makes just his second start of the season after spending several weeks on the IL due to a left flexor muscle strain. Weathers has hung around mainly because he’s a southpaw, but big changes to his fastball velocity and changeup depth have him looking like a serious trade chip.
His sweeper has gotten better as well, and he showed that against the Cubs. His fastball jumped from 94 to 96 mph last season and he sat 97 while touching 99 in his season debut. That creates separation from his 86-87 mph offspeed offering, which went from an average of around 26 inches of drop over his first three seasons to 33 inches last year. It was at 35 inches last week.
He barely needed his sinker or gyro slider, but those pitches could see increased usage as the season goes along. The Cubs got only on run on two hits, with a Suzuki homer accounting for their only offense over five innings. This should be another short start even if Weathers remains efficient, but it should would be nice to not have to rely on Miami’s bullpen to blow it.
First pitch is at 5:40pm CT on Marquee and 670 The Score.
