Cubs vs. Cardinals Lineup: No Ballesteros, A Shota Imanaga Rebound Coming? More

Not only were the Cubs able to snap their 10-game skid this week, but they were able to pick up two straight and split their series with the Pittsburgh Pirates. They now have a chance to create even more of a cushion in an ultra-competitive NL Central against their heated rival.

Game Info

Who: Chicago Cubs (31-26) at St. Louis Cardinals (29-25)
Where: Busch Stadium
When: 6:15 PM CT
Watch: Marquee Sports Network
Listen: 104.3 The Score

Chicago Cubs Lineup

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

Despite the Cubs being losers in 8 of their last 10 games, Seiya Suzuki and the Cubs remain optimistic that things are clicking back into place: “It wasn’t like the mood was bad with this team when we were losing,” Suzuki told MLB dot com. “Something just kind of clicked [on Wednesday night], and it just carried over. To get two wins in a row, we’re feeling good about it, but now we have to move to the next series.”

It's nice to see that, while Cubs fans felt the world was melting, the team was still sticking together during their 10-game losing streak.

Michael Conforto is in at DH tonight for Moises Ballesteros, who's having a rough May with a .093 batting average and 17 strikeouts. Meanwhile, Conforto has raked with his 1.010 OPS and 4 home runs. Carson Kelly will do the catching and has an .866 OPS this month and had a four-hit game vs Pallante last year. It's also worth keeping an eye on Alex Bregman, considering he is riding an eight-game hitting streak and currently and has faced Pallante 5 times in his career.

With the Cubs leaving a league-leading 459 runners on base this season, they are in need of extra-base power. Hopefully, both Kelly and Conforto can provide some of that, but as of late, it's been Ian Happ – who has one in each of his last three games!

St. Louis Cardinals Lineup

1. JJ Wetherhold, 2B
2. Ivan Herrera, C
3. Jordan Walker, RF
4. Nelson Velezquez, DH
5. Alec Burelson, 1B
6. Masyn Winn, SS
7. Jose Fermin, LF
8. Thomas Saggese, 3B
9. Victor Scott II, CF

The Cardinals were just swept by the Brewers, losing the final game 2-1 in what was a no-hit bid for starter Dustin May at one point. However, a leadoff double in the bottom of the 8th would lead to the Brewers scoring two runs and spoiling May's no-no attempt.

Their defense is one of the better groups in baseball right now, worth 2.3 fWAR, but their offense is essentially just Jordan Walker (3 home runs in his last 10 games).

On the Mound ...

May 24, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Shota Imanaga (18) delivers a pitch against the Houston Astros during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Cubs - Shota Imanaga, LHP

The 32-year-old Imanaga had been shoving prior to his last two starts, allowing a combined 15 runs and giving up 5 home runs. He's 3-4 with a 4.85 ERA in his last seven starts (4.04 ERA on the year), as Imanaga tries to get back to the version of himself that started the year with a 2.32 ERA and plenty of swings and misses.

The strikeout-cailber stuff isn't likely sustainable, but Imanaga's ground-ball rate is about 10% lower (71.4%) than his career high, while he's also issuing more walks (2.37%) this season. The most important pitch for Imanaga is his splitter, a pitch he felt good about until he left one up to Christian Walker in his most recent start vs the Astros. Counsell commented on Imanaga's mistake to the Astros hitter: “He made a mistake to a dangerous hitter in a spot where [there’s] not a lot of space to pitch around him,” Counsell told the Sun-Times. “Three-run homers are tough to overcome.”

Imanaga needs his splitter playing off his fastball to generate the ground-balls he needs for outs, especially as his strikeout numbers return to career norms after a hot start to the season. But even if Imanaga regresses some, if he can create more ground balls and allow fewer fly balls, he should see his ERA come down and go deeper into games.

May 23, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Andre Pallante (53) throws against the Cincinnati Reds in the fourth inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

Cardinals – Andre Pallante, RHP

Pallante is having a good year for St. Louis with a 3.76 ERA. He's 4-3 in his last seven starts, posting a 3.38 ERA and going at least five innings each time out. He's got a good mix of pitches, but his fastball and sinker will play off each other. His slider is his out pitch, using it nearly 26 percent of the time as his put-away pitch, per Baseball Savant.

Teams are batting .322 and slugging .508 against Pallante's fastball, and with the Cubs' recent struggles against breaking balls, they will need to be keyed in on Pallante's heater to have success tonight.

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