Cubs announce lineup for 2025 NL Wild Card Game 3 vs. Padres
CHICAGO — The Cubs wanted to bring playoff baseball back to Wrigley Field.
The fan base is certainly getting its money’s worth this week.
The NL Wild Card Series will go the distance, with a winner-take-all Game 3 set for Thursday afternoon.
The Cubs picked up the victory in Game 1, rallying to take down the San Diego Padres by a 3-1 score. The Padres evened the series with a 3-0 win Wednesday afternoon behind a dominating performance from its super bullpen.
Jameson Taillon toes the rubber for the Cubs while former Chicago ace Yu Darvish draws the start for the Padres.
Given the stakes of the game, don’t expect either starter to pitch for long. Like many playoff games nowadays, this one will likely be decided by the bullpen.
Here’s how the Cubs will line up to start the game against Darvish:
Cubs lineup
- Michael Busch – 1B
- Nico Hoerner – 2B
- Ian Happ – LF
- Kyle Tucker – DH
- Seiya Suzuki – RF
- Carson Kelly – C
- Pete Crow-Armstrong – CF
- Dansby Swanson – SS
- Matt Shaw – 3B
Analysis
Three games, one lineup for the Cubs.
This has been the standard group against right-handed pitching when healthy. There was no reason to expect it to change now.
The only potential change might have been the addition of rookie DH Moisés Ballesteros. But, in order for him to start, it would mean somebody else would have to sit.
Suzuki has been the Cubs’ main source of offense for the last week-plus. He hit six homers in five games — including a game-tying solo shot Tuesday — and collected the only extra-base hit (a double) for the Cubs in Game 2.
Tucker has fallen on tougher times over the second half with a dip in production and then missing several weeks in September with a calf injury. He is still working his way back, but the Cubs are not going to bench a guy that has his kind of track record and high ceiling.
The order doesn’t matter much, either. Simply put, it will come down to whether the Cubs’ Top 5 offense shows up or not.
The team that finished fifth in MLB in runs scored must find a way to get to Darvish and the Padres bullpen. Happ, Crow-Armstrong and Shaw are all hitless in the series and the Cubs have drawn only two walks as a team.
They haven’t collected a hit with runners in scoring position in the series, but they haven’t had many opportunities either (0-for-6).
The Cubs have pitched well overall in this series (allowing only four runs) but if they’re going to advance to the NLDS, it will come down to whether the offense can scratch across at least a couple runs.
Padres lineup
- Fernando Tatis Jr. – RF
- Luis Arraez – 1B
- Manny Machado – 3B
- Jackson Merrill – CF
- Xander Bogaerts – SS
- Ryan O’Hearn – DH
- Gavin Sheets – LF
- Jake Cronenworth – 2B
- Freddy Fermin – C
Analysis
San Diego manager Mike Shildt kept the exact same lineup for Games 1 and 2 when his team faced a lefty (Matthew Boyd) and an opener with another lefty (Shota Imanaga) to follow.
Against a righty, Shildt is rolling out the same crew. So, both teams have had the exact same lineup for all three games of the series.
Which offense will be able to push across enough runs to advance to the NLDS?
