Chicago Cubs Lineup (9/16/26): Imanaga Hoping for Filthy Outing Against Ritchie, Braves
The Cubs suffered yet another tough loss last night as the bullpen gave up a pair of two-run homers in the late innings. They didn’t lose any ground because both the Phillies and Padres lost, but they’re just barely bailing water out of the boat quickly enough. Winning tonight is imperative heading into the off day and then a series in Cincinnati, but the Braves are tough even with a fill-in starter.
Shōta Imanaga has had two strong starts in a row, though his most recent outing against the Pirates wasn’t all that pretty. He was able to limit the damage from five hits, one of which was a homer, over six innings, and that’s what matters. The wind is blowing in at a good clip tonight, which works very much in his favor.
That also means that the Cubs might need to manufacture some runs, which hasn’t been easy for them at times. Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center, Seiya Suzuki is in right, Michael Busch is at first, and Alex Bregman takes third. Ian Happ patrols left, Nico Hoerner is the shortstop, and Michael Conforto serves as the DH. Pedro Ramírez plays second and Carson Kelly is behind the dish.
Opposing them is 23-year-old righty JR Ritchie, who is making the ninth start and 15th total appearance of his young MLB career. The 35th overall pick out of Washington’s Bainbridge HS in 2022, Ritchie missed most of the ’23 and ’24 seasons due to elbow reconstruction. He rose all the way to Triple-A in ’25, then made 16 starts there this season before being promoted.
His time in the big leagues so far has been marked by an ugly 14.1% walk rate that comes from spraying every pitch all over the place. Each of his location heat maps has multiple red spots, which is indicative of someone who doesn’t necessarily know where the ball is going. It’d be one thing if these were strategic locations, but it’s all pretty erratic.
Ritchie pitches backwards, throwing his sweepy 83 mph curveball 27% of the time and balancing it well between right- and left-handed hitters. The 94 mph sinker is next at 21%, and it’s more of a weapon against righties. Then comes the 94-95 mph fastball at 18% that lefties see more often, an 88 mph changeup with good depth that goes more to lefties, and an 89 mph cutter. Finally, he’s got an 85 mph slider.
The slider and curve have both gotten decent results, as has the sinker, so it makes sense that Ritchie has been much better against righties. He’s also been better on the road, and that wind should aid him tonight. Though he gives up a lot of hard contact, his 45.1% grounder rate is solid. Because he’s been working more as a reliever lately, he’s probably not going much deeper than four innings even if he’s pitching well.
He went just over four when he pitched against the Cubs a little over four months ago, limiting them to one run on two hits. I have a very bad feeling about him doing more of the same tonight, so I’m looking forward to the Cubs proving me wrong. First pitch is at 6:40pm CT on Marquee and The Score.
