Chicago Cubs Lineup (6/10/25): Happ Leads Off, McGuire Catching, Rea Starting

The Cubs have lost three of their last four games as their offense has turtled up for the most part of late. They had a stinker in their loss to the Nationals as well, being held scoreless for just the third time all season. Their fourth shutout loss came just four days later in Detroit, then they managed just one run through the first seven innings in Philly.

Two solo shots and a double to push the Manfred Man across in the 11th were all they could muster, though that was almost enough before the Phillies decided to play small ball. Monday night marked the first time since May 16, 1952 that they’d collected two bunt singles in the same inning. Not even Matt Shaw‘s defensive wizardry was enough as Bryson Stott seemingly lucked out on the first of those two hits.

Anyway, they’re back at it tonight with Colin Rea on the mound to make a traditional start five days after picking up the win as the bulk man behind Drew Pomeranz. That’s the same strategy the Cubs used for Ben Brown in the previous turn, and both men responded quite well to the change. There are still some concerns about Rea’s long-term fitness for the rotation, as he managed to keep the Nats off the board despite allowing five hits with no strikeouts over 5.1 innings.

That was a big step forward from his two previous starts, but his expected stats all lined up with what should have been a mediocre performance. Of course, part of being a good pitcher is beating expectations one way or another. If Rea can get back to working the corners with his fastball and not making too many mistakes in the heart of the zone, he can be an effective starter. Tonight may tell us whether he keeps his spot or is just keeping the seat warm for Shōta Imanaga, who still needs at least two more rehab starts.

Ian Happ is in his usual leadoff spot and playing left field, Kyle Tucker is the DH, and Seiya Suzuki is in right. Pete Crow-Armstrong cleans up in center, Dansby Swanson is at short, and Michael Busch plays first. Nico Hoerner is at second, Matt Shaw takes third, and Reese McGuire does the catching.

They are facing 23-year-old righty Mick Abel, one of the Phillies’ top pitching prospects, who is making just his third MLB start. Abel has done pretty well so far, going 1-0 with a 0.79 ERA and 11 strikeouts to no walks over those first two. The strikeouts aren’t surprising, as he’s always racked those up as a pro, but he’s always had a relatively high walk rate. MLB Pipeline’s scouting report on him reads as somewhat disappointing, which is a little strange given his youth and status in the organization.

Maybe he’s one of those folks who performs better on a bigger stage, or perhaps he’s gotten really lucky in the early going. The report noted that he’s worked with pitching coach Caleb Cotham to clean up his delivery and be more on time, hence the improved walk numbers. Sure enough, his 61.7% in-zone rate is a massive jump from result in the minors that sat below 45% for the most part and topped out at just under 50% at Triple-A this year.

To put that in better perspective, no qualified MLB pitcher is even at 60% this season. Abel is second overall among 457 pitchers with at least 10 innings, behind only the Giants’ Tyler Rogers (63.8%). But Abel isn’t a submariner and may not be able to keep getting away with throwing that many strikes. His 96 mph fastball has gotten good results, but his 95 mph sinker hasn’t yet generated grounders like it did in the minors.

That isn’t as big an issue when his curveball is working as well as it has, plus he’s got a death-ball-ish slider with tight bullet spin that has been a strong complement. The curve and his little-used changeup are deployed mainly against left-hand hitters, with the slider/sinker combo used against righties. Abel has produced reverse splits so far, though it’s far too early in his career to say how those will play out.

We’ll find out whether the Cubs have a few Cains in the lineup at 5:45pm CT on Marquee and 670 The Score.

Same time, same place.

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— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 10, 2025