Cubs vs. Cardinals Lineup: Assad Over Imanaga in Finale, Hoerner Returns, More

The Chicago Cubs are hoping to steal three of four in St. Louis after a gut-wrenching extra-innings loss on Wednesday night. To make matters even more frustrating, they went into last evening's outing knowing they could gain another game on the Brewers. Those opportunities have been hard to come by!

Game Info

Who: Chicago Cubs (61-47) at St. Louis Cardinals (54-54)
Where: Busch Stadium
When: 1:10 PM CT
Watch: Marquee Sports Network
Listen: 104.3 The Score

Chicago Cubs Lineup

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

Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to give Nico Hoerner a day off yesterday. The Cubs' offense could have really used his approach at the plate, as they mustered only 3 hits. Nevertheless, Hoerner will move back to second base for the finale and into his typical sixth spot in the lineup.

Hoerner's return means that Pedro Ramírez will take a seat after his strong run. The rookie has continued to improve his stock in recent weeks but saw his six-game hitting streak come to an end on Wednesday. At this rate, it's hard not to wonder how many more games Ramírez may have in a Cubs uniform. If they make a big move at the deadline (they are apparently back in on Tarik Skubal), it feels very likely that Ramírez will be part of that transaction.

Michael Conforto will stay in the lineup and play right field, allowing Seiya Suzuki to step into the DH spot. Lastly, Carson Kelly returns for Miguel Amaya and will bat eighth, which slides Dansby Swanson to last in the lineup.

St. Louis Cardinals Lineup

1. J.J. Wetherholt, 2B
2. Jordan Walker, RF
3. Alec Burleson, 1B
4. Ivan Herrera, C
5. Lars Nootbaar, RF
6. Masyn Winn, SS
7. Bryan Torres, LF
8. Blaze Jordan, 3B
9. Nathan Church, CF

On the Mound ...

Jul 25, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Javier Assad (72) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the eighth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Cubs – Javier Assad, RHP

The Chicago Cubs chose to push Shota Imanaga's next start to Friday back at Wrigley Field. It will allow the lefty – who has been very hot as of late – to get things started in a big series against the New York Yankees. In his place today will now be Javier Assad, who was expected to re-enter the rotation following the DFA of Jameson Taillon.

Assad will likely see his spot taken by whichever arm the Cubs bring in over the next handful of days. To his credit, though, he's pitched rather well over the last few weeks. He only gave up 2 runs in his previous start on July 11 and went 5.0 innings deep against the Reds. After that, he had two relief appearances for a combined 4.0 innings with 3 hits and no earned runs.

Obviously, Assad can have a tendency to allow some big hits, but he's also very good at keeping the ball on the ground and in the strike zone. That could be good news against a Cardinals team that has the sixth-highest ground ball rate in baseball.

Cardinals – Andre Pallante, RHP

The Cardinals have seen some great stuff by righty Andrew Pallante. He has a 3.77 ERA this season and has gone 11-6 while on the mound. Speaking of ground ball rates, his comfortably sits in the league's 95th percentile at 55.5 percent.

The good news is that the first time the Cubs faced Pallente, they looked very comfortable. The team got to him for 8 hits and 4 runs back on May 29 at Wrigley Field. The bad news? Pallente dominated them in their second meeting on July 3 with a goose egg in 5.2 innings of action.

What will we see today?

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