Chicago Cubs Lineup (5/11/25): PCA Leads Off, Turner Near Bottom, Boyd Bump Day
Happy Mother’s Day to the one or two moms out there who will read this. I hope you have a wonderful day and that the Cubs are not nearly as disappointing as your children. Just kidding, I’m sure your kids are awesome. What’s truly disappointing is the fact that this game is being broadcast on Roku. What the f— is that s— all about? We have Apple TV+ and a number of other streaming services, but this is a bridge too far.
Ed. note: You can actually watch for free, I’m just being a grump.
Imagine running a Cubs blog and not realizing until just an hour or so before first pitch that the game isn’t on Marquee or another broadly available service. I took a little time this morning making a full breakfast and then cleaning up, so I’m going to skimp on the pregame breakdown to get it out in time.
Matthew Boyd is on the bump as he looks to continue what could be the best season of his career if he maintains anything close to his performance through seven starts. He has yet to exceed six innings and probably won’t do so this afternoon as the Cubs look to keep him healthy and effective over more innings than he’s thrown since 2019. He went 185.1 that season, but hasn’t thrown as many as 79 since.
Boyd’s running four-seam has been his most effective offering by far and he’s throwing it more frequently than in recent seasons, something we’re seeing from Jameson Taillon and Colin Rea as well. There’s something in the water with Cubs pitchers getting exceptional value from heaters with below-average velocity. Boyd has his work cut out for him and may need more help than usual from his lineup.
That starts with Pete Crow-Armstrong once again leading off in place of Ian Happ, who remains unavailable due to a little oblique discomfort. Kyle Tucker is in right, Seiya Suzuki is in left, Michael Busch is at first, and Carson Kelly bats fifth. Nico Hoerner is at second, Dansby Swanson slides up to seventh, and Justin Turner has finally been moved down to eighth as the DH. Jon Berti serves as the caboose at third base.
This is the first time all season that Turner has batted lower than sixth as a starter; he’s gotten 58 plate appearances in the 3-5 spots, though some came as a pinch hitter. Even so, this is a very refreshing change from Craig Counsell.
Of greater concern is Happ’s health. While there are some fans who believe Happ is a bad baseball player, he’s actually quite good and is a solid leadoff hitter. This is the second game in a row he’s missed, but it doesn’t sound like the issue is too severe. That probably just means they’ll list him as day-to-day and play short-handed for no reason until he eventually has to be placed on the IL.
“He’s doing good,” Counsell told reporters prior to Sunday’s game. “Yesterday, we didn’t do any activity essentially. Today, we’re gonna run around, he’s gonna hit. So just see how that goes. But if he’s hitting today, that’s a good sign. And we’ll just kind of evaluate what the day produces.”
The Cubs are 29-year-old righty Griffin Canning, who is having his best season by far after coming up with the Angels. He was traded to the Braves for Jorge Soler, but was non-tendered less than a month later and signed a one-year, $4.25 million deal with the Mets that looks like a steal. A backwards pitcher who throws his slider more than any other pitch, Canning has done an excellent job of getting grounders and chase.
His 94 mph fastball plays up because of that slider, which actually plays more like a death ball curve with a little more depth, and a firm changeup that gets excellent run and depth. At 89-90 mph, the change has decidedly different movement from the fastball despite very little velo separation. It’s always been his best pitch by a wide margin, but now he’s getting good results on the fastball for the first time ever.
The 2.50 ERA feels a little fluky because Canning is among the worst pitchers in MLB when it comes to giving up hard hits (49.5%). The grounders have saved him frequently, but there’s a point at which his suspect control and high exit velocity will be too much to overcome. The Cubs should get traffic on the bases, so it’ll be a matter of pushing those runners across.
First pitch is at 11:05am CT on Roko and 670 The Score.
For the series. pic.twitter.com/481YS1LxEg
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 11, 2025
