Chicago Cubs Lineup (9/8/25): Busch Leads Off, PCA at DH, Imanaga Starting

The Cubs just dropped two of three to the Nationals, thanks in large part to their anemic offense and an injury-riddled roster that saw them have to use two players aged 39 or older in Sunday’s lineup. You know things are getting bad when your bench is limited to two guys who should only be regular as long as they’re taking their daily dose of Metamucil. Now the Cubs are in Cobb County to take on the Braves after winning two of three from them at Wrigley last week.

One of those wins was started by Shota Imanaga, who is on the bump trying to repeat that performance. The lefty has given up three earned runs in four of his last seven starts, but those all represent his “worst” efforts in that stretch. He only struck out two Braves batters, though, so that’s probably going to have to improve tonight. The Cubs scored four runs to barely squeak out that W a night after coming back to win in 10 innings with seven runs.

The series finale saw them hang a single tally, and it was just an unearned run against the starter they’re facing tonight. Again, the offense has to be better. I’d say that starts with doing something different at the leadoff spot, but Michael Busch is back there again with a righty on the mound. Then again, his .218 average and 92 wRC+ in 110 plate appearances there since the start of August is worlds better than his .071 and -41 in all other spots over that same time. Of course, that sample is comprised of just 15 PAs.

Ian Happ bats second in left, Seiya Suzuki is in right, and Pete Crow-Armstrong returns to the lineup as the DH to give that bruised knee more of a break. Nico Hoerner is at second and Willi Castro is hoping to improve upon his .159 average and 26 wRC+ since joining the Cubs as he bats sixth in center. Dansby Swanson is at short, Matt Shaw plays third, and Reese McGuire is behind the plate.

They’re facing righty Bryce Elder, who completely dominated them over seven innings in his second-best start of the season. Elder is in his fourth big-league season and has worked almost exclusively as a starter, with just one relief appearance as a rookie in 2022. He’s bounced between Triple-A and the majors a few times to work through issues with hittability, and he’s probably gotten a little more leeway than most given the Braves’ pitching injuries.

What follows is just a reprint of my last breakdown, as Elder hasn’t pitched again in the interim and shouldn’t be able to repeat what was probably an aberrant performance. Except that Elder has now limited this roster to a .167 average and .487 OPS over 48 at-bats. Yikes.

Though Elder has always done a very good job of keeping the ball on the ground with his sinker/slider mix, he will leave a lot of balls over the plate to be tagged. Despite its bowling-ball qualities, that 91 mph sinker often leaks right into the nitro zone. The same is true for the 84 mph slider that frequently lacks enough horizontal movement to carry it away from barrels.

Elder also has a 92-93 mph four-seam and an 86 mph changeup, both of which are thrown more heavily to left-handed batters. After pitching to almost even splits in the past, the numbers have skewed heavily toward reverse this season. Elder is giving up a .288/.337/.485 slash to right-handed hitters, though that’s mainly from some very poor outings against them at home. At Truist Park, righties have jumped on him to slash .351/.424/.575 with six homers.

Let’s hope that same home cookin’ provides a little more Southern hospitality than he provided when he visited the Friendly Confines. First pitch is at 6:15pm CT on Marquee and 670 The Score.

📍: Atlanta

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— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 8, 2025