Ben Brown Plan, Matt Shaw Moves Up? Scary Chris Sale, & More Cubs Lineup Thoughts

All the Chicago Cubs have to do to end their longest losing streak of the season is take down Chris Sale! What could possibly go wrong?

*laughs out of fear*

Game Info

Who: Chicago Cubs (27-16) at Atlanta Braves (30-13)
Where: Truist Park
When: 6:15 PM CT
Watch: Marquee Sports Network
Listen: 104.3 The Score

Chicago Cubs Lineup

1. Nico Hoerner, 2B
2. Alex Bregman, 3B
3. Ian Happ, LF
4. Seiya Suzuki, DH
5. Matt Shaw, RF
6. Michael Busch, 1B
7. Dansby Swanson, SS
8. Miguel Amaya, C
9. Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF

If the Cubs lose tonight, it will be their first time getting swept this season. So ... is this Craig Counsell's slump-busting lineup? The manager has not faced a lefty since the Cubs' second meeting with the Reds earlier this month. Chicago would walk away from that game on top, albeit with a hard-fought 3-2 victory in extra innings.

The nine-man group is the same that took the field for that matchup, but Counsell has shuffled the order. Matt Shaw has somewhat surprisingly moved up into the five-hole, pushing Michael Busch down to sixth and Swanson to seventh. Shaw hasn't started since the series finale against the Rangers, where he went 0-3 at the plate.

Nevertheless, Shaw has found plenty of success against left-handed pitchers this season. He's batting .326 with a .881 OPS. This includes 14 total hits in his 43 at-bats to go along with six RBIs. When we consider how ugly this offense has looked over the last couple of games, you can't really blame Counsell for giving Shaw this opportunity. The Cubs need any jolt of energy they can get.

Speaking of ice cold ... Moises Ballesteros is sitting out his first game of the series. Beginning the year as an unstoppable force at the plate, Ballesteros' crash back down to earth has been harsh. He is now 2-of-43 in his last 13 games. And, no, that's not a typo. Both of those hits also happened to come in the same game! This means he has zero hits in 12 of his last 13 outings. He's also walked only four times over that stretch.

There is no question that Ballesteros' personal slump has played a big part in the Cubs' struggles. But it also sure doesn't help that Nico Hoerner is hitting .156 in his last eight games and Alex Bregman is still trying to find real consistency. The top of the order simply hasn't carried its weight, and it's hard to imagine that changing against the Braves' top arm tonight.

Atlanta Braves Lineup

1. Drake Baldwin, C
2. Ozzie Albies, 2B
3. Matt Olson, 1B
4. Michael Harris Jr., CF
5. Mauricio Dubón, LF
6. Austin Riley, 3B
7. Dominic Smith, DH
8. Ha Seong-Kim, SS
9. Mike Yastrezmski, RF

Shota Imanaga pitched another stellar showing on Wednesday night, but the Braves jumped on the Cubs the moment he left the game. Phil Maton gave up a costly double to Mike Yastrezmski to fork over the lead in the bottom of the eighth. For whatever reason, Yastrezmski has been a thorn in the Cubs' side this series, also smashing to go-ahead home run in their previous meeting. Someone stop him!

Pitching Matchup

Apr 22, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Ben Brown (32) pitches against the Philadelphia Phillies during the fifth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images | Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

Cubs – Ben Brown, RHP

After Matthew Boyd was sidelined due to meniscus surgery, the Cubs had a big decision on their hands. Javier Assad and Ben Brown were both in the bullpen with starting experience. The latter was finally showing some real signs of growth in his long reliever role. While many believed this was reason enough to keep him in that position, the Cubs chose otherwise.

To their credit, it looked like the right move in his first start against the Rangers. Brown threw four hitless innings and only walked a single batter. He also threw 31 of his 46 pitches for a strike. Overall, the righty has done an unusually good job at limiting hard contact this season and recording a groundball rate of 53.8 percent. The Cubs are surely hoping that he can mimic that performance tonight. What will it take to do that? Brown will want to lean on his cutter and sinker, as few teams have been better at smashing fastballs than this Braves lineup.

If one thing is for sure, do not expect to see Brown go very deep. Craig Counsell said this afternoon on 104.3 The Score that he will likely go 4.0 innings again as they gradually ramp him up to a starting role.

Braves – Chris Sale, LHP

What is there to say? Despite all the injury trouble over the years, Chris Sale remains one of the most intimidating southpaws in the game. He's got a 2.20 ERA this season and has held a 6-2 record in his eight appearances. The veteran has a ridiculous 37.9 percent chase rate to go along with just a 6.3 percent walk rate. In other words, it doesn't matter if Sale throws plenty of balls outside the zone, players can't help but swing at them.

To be honest, it's hard to think of many worse matchups for the Cubs after the last few days. They have done a decent job at staying disciplined at the plate, which should help against Sale's movement. But can they create enough good contact to really get the offense going? We'll see.

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