Chicago Cubs Lineup (6/14/25): Standard Order, Boyd Bump Day

I’m about to head to the hometown of Hoosier basketball legend Damon Bailey to watch my son and his baseball team play a pair of games, so this one will be a little thin on scouting. Ah, but there’s still time to share a brief review of “The Life of Chuck,” director Mike Flanagan’s brilliant adaptation of the Stephen King novella with the same name. My opinion is colored by the fact that I’ve met several of the people tied to the film, but I think even those with no connections will enjoy it.

That’s the key, “enjoy,” because this movie is about finding joy in the little moments of our lives, and how even the most seemingly mundane people contain multitudes. We all have magic in us, whether we’re just some wannabe journalist* tapping away at a keyboard, a retired schoolteacher, or a professional baseball player. Our lives are each their own universes, populated by everyone and everything we’ve ever encountered.

If you do end up seeing the movie, please let me know what you thought of it.

Back to the Cubs, whose game yesterday I watched very little of due to my son’s baseball work and then heading to the theater. I actually followed online while the first trailers started rolling, and was thus able to avoid what otherwise might have been frustration. A pair of one-run games against the lackluster Pirates is not on par with expectations, especially when the Cubs got Paul Skenes out of there after five innings. That’s his second five-inning start against them this season, both of which are his shortest outings of the year.

Cade Horton held his own in his best start of the season, so perhaps Matt Boyd can pick up the baton this afternoon. He got a no-decision against the Pirates in Pittsburgh back on April 30, holding them to two runs on six hits over five frames. The lefty has allowed only three earned runs over his last three starts, all of which have gone at least six innings, and he should at least get close to 80 innings on the season in this one.

That would be his highest total since going 185.1 in 2019 for Detroit, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down. The same can’t be said for the offense, which has scored two or fewer runs in five of the last 11 games. The Cubs have scored six or more in four of those games, all wins, so they need to feast a little more often.

Ian Happ leads off in left, Kyle Tucker is in right, Seiya Suzuki is the DH, and Pete Crow-Armstrong is in center. Dansby Swanson is at short, Michael Busch is at first, Carson Kelly does the catching, and Nico Hoerner is the second baseman. Matt Shaw rounds things out at third.

They’re up against 25-year-old righty Mike Burrows, a former 11th-round pick out of Waterford High School in Connecticut. He debuted with one appearance last season and is making the fifth start of his career this afternoon at Wrigley. Burrows runs his fastball up there at around 95 mph, but the movement tends to carry it out over the plate a bit too much. That has led to four homers in his four previous starts, two each by batters from either side.

Having a good changeup has allowed Burrows to keep left-handed hitters at bay for the most part, but it hasn’t worked as well on righties. He’s also got a bullet slider and a curve that gets serious depth, and he’s shown the ability to carve if everything is working. However, he’s got massive reverse splits so far that see righties batting .300/.378/.575 with three doubles and a triple in addition to the dingers.

The Cubs need to get to him early lest he manages to find a groove, so I want to see an aggressive approach. Even though his control can be spotty, he’s going to make plenty of mistakes with that fastball in particular. The slider may back up on him from time to time as well, so maybe I’ll amend my ask and say the Cubs need to be opportunistic. I suppose that should be the case in every game, but it’s particularly true with a rookie who has these characteristics.

First pitch is at 1:20pm CT on Marquee and 670 The Score.

*This is an actual insult online strangers have lobbed my/our way. Just to be clear, I’m not a journalist and have never wanted to be one. And if you find yourself feeling a desire to be mean to someone online for no reason other than simply being mean, take a deep breath and touch some grass.