Chicago Cubs Lineup (4/2/25): Taillon Starting, Tucker Batting Third, Turner at First
The Cubs haven’t fooled around through two games in Sacramento, rolling out to a 2-0 series lead and getting back to .500 thanks to a series power display. Riding a small win streak back to Wrigley would set the stage for Friday’s home opener and keep the concerns over their early performance to little more than murmurs.
Jameson Taillon will need to be much better than he was in his first start against the Diamondbacks, in which he needed 80 pitches to get through 4.1 innings. He gave up hits on five different pitch types and allowed nine overall knocks that drove in six runs. With only one strikeout mixed in there, it was clear Taillon wasn’t fooling anyone. Getting a sharper performance will keep the Cubs in a position to sweep, especially with how they’ve been hitting.
Cubs’ manager Craig Counsell is changing things up a bit in today’s matinee matchup. Ian Happ is in left, Seiya Suzuki is in right, Kyle Tucker is DH, and Justin Turner is holding down first. Dansby Swanson is playing short, Nico Hoerner is at second, Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center, Matt Shaw is handling the hot corner, and Carson Kelly is catching.
On the mound trying to stop them is lefty Jeffrey Springs, whose first start of the season was tremendous. He struck out nine over six scoreless innings, giving up just three hits and a walk to the Mariners. A prototypical crafty lefty, Springs’ fastball sits just 90 mph. He relies more on his breaking and offspeed stuff to get lots of bad swings, though injuries have limited his last three seasons to a sample that’s too small to get much out of.
With just 55 total innings since the start of the 2023 season, Springs is something of an unknown quantity. The Rays seem to have brought out the best in him following turbulent early campaigns with the Rangers and Red Sox, and the early results with the A’s indicate he could still be very good. His changeup is a tremendous weapon against right-handed hitters, hence the extreme reverse splits over the course of his career.
Keeping that up could mean trouble for the Cubs, but it only takes one or two mistakes to turn a game around. First pitch of the series finale is at 2:35pm CT on Marquee and 670 The Score.
