Chicago Cubs Lineup (9/15/26): Gausman Trying to Find Footing Again
The Cubs turned what looked like an easy win into a nail-biter, but there’s no such thing as an ugly win at this point. Especially since the Padres may never lose again. They have won eight in a row to move to 9-1 in their last 10, gaining four games on the Cubs and five on the Phillies in that stretch. And with San Diego in Denver for two more games, there’s no room for error.
Kevin Gausman has had a difficult time finding his footing with the Cubs, alternating good and bad starts over the last month. His most recent outing saw him give up six earned runs on three homers as he was forced to wear it over four innings. Two starts earlier, he gave up five runs in as many innings. But the other two of his last four outings saw him give up one total run over 14 innings. Gausman has limited walks, so it’s all about staying in the zone without being hittable.
The record-setting Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center, followed by Seiya Suzuki in right, Alex Bregman at third, and Tyrone Taylor in left. Nico Hoerner is at short, Michael Busch plays first, Matt Shaw is the DH, and Pedro Ramírez is at second. Miguel Amaya handles the catching duties tonight.
Going for the Braves is 35-year-old southpaw Martín Pérez, who has a 3.08 ERA over 28 appearances (24 starts) even though he doesn’t average 90 mph on his hard stuff. Not that velocity matters much for a prototypical crafty lefty who makes his money from a sinker/change combo that he tunnels very well. His ability to fool hitters leads to a lot of weak contact, which makes up for his lack of strikeouts — though he did strike out 14 batters over a seven-inning stretch earlier this season.
The four-seam isn’t very effective at all, so throwing it twice as often to left-handed hitters has led to reverse splits after decidedly traditional career results. Far more important are his home/road splits, which are about as disparate as you’ll see. Pérez has allowed a .240 wOBA in Atlanta, but opponents have a .361 wOBA against him when he’s on the road. Left-handed hitters are slashing .354/.408/.600 to do the heavy lifting.
Previous results say the Cubs will have a tough time, as they’ve got an aggregate .195/.303/.221 slash in 77 at-bats against him. Then again, 42 of those have come from Bregman alone. The wind should be blowing out tonight, so I think we’ll see the home team even things out. First pitch is at 6:40pm CT on Marquee and The Score.
