Chicago Cubs Lineup (7/27/26): Peterson Opening Series Against Arch Rivals
Even with their loss on Sunday being with wins by most of the teams on which they need to gain ground, the Cubs are in a decent spot heading into this long series in St. Louis. That could all change in a hurry, though, especially with the way these two teams have played so far. The Cubs have been outscored 19-36 while losing four of six, with most of that differential coming from a 17-1 loss to open the Fourth of July weekend. As you may recall, that lopsided affair followed the Cubs’ 23-3 win over the Padres in the previous game.
David Peterson was the starter on July 3, and he was unable to complete four innings because he was overwhelmed by the St. Louis offense. The lefty gave up 10 runs on nine hits, only one of which left the yard, in what was probably the worst outing of his career. I’m not going to look back through previous seasons, so let’s just take that at face value.
Last week against the Tigers was the first time that Peterson has held an opponent homerless as a Cub, and it was the first time he’d done so at all since May 31. You can probably guess that his grounder rate has been down over the last month or so, but he’s been sharp enough in his other starts to keep his team in the game. After Jameson Taillon‘s abbreviated start yesterday afternoon, which cemented the decision to designate him for assignment, getting some length from Peterson is imperative.
It would also be nice if the offense didn’t have to battle back right out of the gate. Pete Crow-Armstrong leads off in center, Seiya Suzuki is in right, Alex Bregman is at third, and Carson Kelly is the DH. Michael Busch is at first, Nico Hoerner plays second, Ian Happ drops to seventh in left, and Dansby Swanson handles shortstop. Miguel Amaya is the catcher.
They’re up against Matthew Liberatore for the third time this season, the last of which came in the Cubs’ only win of that July series. In the first matchup on May 31, he held them scoreless over 5.1 innings for one of just two starts in which he’s kept an opponent off the board this year. Liberatore tends to run hot or cold, so there’s no telling what you’ll see from him on a given game.
The lefty’s 5.18 ERA with a 5.29 xERA and 4.83 FIP tells us he’s more prone to being cold, which is reinforced by a Baseball Savant slider that has but one exception in a sea of blue. Liberatore has a very good changeup, though it hasn’t mattered much against five other pitches with negative value. His cutty mid-90s fastball tends to stay right in the heart of the zone, making it susceptible to hard contact even when he keeps it up, and he frequently hangs his 87 mph slider.
He throws the slider 42% of the time when facing left-handed batters, so that lack of execution explains why he’s pitching to reverse splits after being more traditional throughout his career. That plays right into the hands of a team that has some pretty hot hitters from the left side, but there are always those funky games where some middling pitcher finds a way to shut the Cubs down.
First pitch is at 6:45pm CT on Marquee and The Score
