Cubs vs. Padres NL Wild Card Lineup (Game 1): Pedro's Big Break, Bregman Ready to Go, More

The time has come.

The Chicago Cubs and the San Diego Padres have locked in their Game 1 lineups for the NL Wild Card Series, and there’s no looking back now.

Here’s who both teams are going to war with when the series rematch gets underway!

Game Info

Who: Chicago Cubs at San Diego Padres
Where: Petco Park
When: 9 PM CT
Watch: Peacock, NBCSN
Listen: 104.3 The Score, WPPN 106.7 / TUDN (Cubs), ESPN (national)

Chicago Cubs Lineup

Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF
Alex Bregman, DH
Michael Busch, 1B
Seiya Suzuki, RF
Ian Happ, LF
Nico Hoerner, 2B
Pedro Ramirez, 3B
Carson Kelly, C
Dansby Swanson, SS

There were murmurings about whether Alex Bregman would be ready to play the field in the playoffs. He hasn't since suffering multiple facial fractures from a foul ball in Cincinnati. Even though he was spotted taking grounders during Monday's workout, Craig Counsell felt it was safer to keep him in the DH role. After all, focusing on hitting could be a great thing for the guy who went 4-for-4 with two home runs in Game 162.

That elevates rookie standout Pedro Ramirez to a first postseason start at the hot corner. Ramirez started 14 games at third in the regular season and logged 136 total innings. Despite committing three errors, Counsell is going with Ramirez over Matt Shaw. The latter played 124 games at third in 2025 but has since shifted to playing more right field, only making seven starts at the position this season.

San Diego Padres Lineup

Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
Samad Taylor, LF
Manny Machado, 3B
Ty France, 1B
Jackson Merrill, CF
Austin Hays, DH
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Jake Cronenworth, 2B
Luis Campusano, C

Unsurprisingly, the Padres are going with just two lefties — Merrill and Cronenworth — to face Cubs southpaw Matthew Boyd.

One notable omission is 20-year-old rookie catcher Ethan Salas, who made his MLB debut on Sept. 2 and went 7-for-18 in his last seven games of the regular season. This also isn’t entirely surprising, though, given Salas has just 39 major-league at-bats under his belt and the Padres have a proven backstop in Campusano, who is probably a better fit to catch on the big stage at the moment.

On the Mound ...

Sep 7, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Matthew Boyd (16) throws a pitch in the eighth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Cubs - Matthew Boyd, LHP

Matthew Boyd is true to this Game 1 life. He started last year’s edition, tossing 4.1 innings of one-run ball as the Cubs went on to win 3-1. Boyd, albeit on a down year this season, has Counsell’s full trust to keep the Cubs in the game.

Boyd is a seasoned postseason veteran, boasting a 1.66 ERA in seven appearances and 21.2 innings. He allowed just three earned runs in 9.2 innings with the Cubs last year.

Boyd did, however, struggle comparatively in both times he faced the Padres this year. He allowed five earned runs on eight hits across four innings on April 27. On June 30, he then allowed three runs on eight hits, including a pair of home runs. It will be interesting to see if Boyd can make steady improvements in this start, as he did between the two in the regular season.

Padres - Michael King, RHP

The Padres should be pretty confident in right-hander Michael King, who enters the series with an impressive 2.53 ERA over his final seven starts of the regular season.

King only pitched an inning in the 2025 Wild Card Series, so most of the Cubs’ lineup is entirely new territory for him. Crow-Armstrong, Kelly, Swanson, and Matt Shaw each saw him once in that game, and King has not pitched against any other members of the Cubs.

In 15 career postseason innings, King has a 3.00 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP with 19 strikeouts.

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