Chicago Cubs Lineup (9/28/25): All That Matters Is Getting to Tuesday Healthy

The Cubs won again on Saturday to ensure that Wrigley Field will host the Wild Card matchup against the Padres, so this game doesn’t matter. Well, it doesn’t have any postseason implications. After scoring five runs in five straight games for the first time since May 16-20 against the White Sox and Marlins, the Cubs just need to stay healthy and maintain their momentum.

Michael Busch has been one of the best offensive producers in the game over the last two weeks, hitting seven home runs in 13 games. Seiya Suzuki has four homers in the last three games, equaling his total from the previous 64 games. Pete Crow-Armstrong joined the 30/30 Club on Friday and has gone deep in back-to-back games after hitting one dong in his previous 28 starts. Any one of those guys could put the team on their back, so having all three hitting well is huge.

Javier Assad will be on the bump to eat as many innings as possible, and we’ll probably see Jordan Wicks out there doing the same at some point. Craig Counsell’s only concern this afternoon is keeping his postseason pitchers fresh. Losing Cade Horton until at least Game 5 of the NLDS, should they even reach that point, means being even more aggressive when it comes to finding ways to get 27 outs.

Busch is leading off at first, Nico Hoerner is at second, Ian Happ is in left, and Kyle Tucker is the DH. Suzuki is in right, Moisés Ballesteros makes his first appearance behind the plate, and PCA is in center. Dansby Swanson mans short and Willi Castro is at third.

The Cardinals are sending 28-year-old righty reliever Kyle Leahy to the bump as an opener, so the pitching matchup doesn’t really merit analysis. As such, I’ll take just a moment to get salty about Cards manager Oli Marmol’s cowardly decision to intentionally walk Michael Busch in the bottom of the 5th while down 7-3 with first base open. Busch had homered twice, tripled, and doubled, leaving him a single shy of the cycle.

“I’m not here for anybody’s amusement,” Marmol said of the choice. “I’m trying to win a game. The next guy grounded out to the pitcher, so I think it worked.”

Sure, bud, it kept you within four runs in a game that had no bearing on your future or that of your club. I’m not upset about Busch not getting a chance for the cycle because the Cubs winning was more important, but not even pitching to him was weak sauce. Craig Counsell called it a “baseball decision,” but the home crowd was very displeased and let Marmol know about it.

But I guess it’s hard to blame a manager for not wanting to pitch to a guy who’s posted a 1.479 OPS with seven homers against his team this season. Putting up 13 total bases during his perfect afternoon raised Busch’s season wRC+ from 134 to 141, which is an incredible jump at this late juncture. Just stay hot, kid.

First pitch is at the odd time of 2:20pm CT, making this the latest start of the afternoon in MLB by 15 minutes. Six games start at 2:05, two are at 2:07, five go at 2:10, and one is at 2:15 as the league tries to keep teams honest. There are still several spots up for grabs, namely the final NL Wild Card spot. The Reds are in if they win, or if they and the Mets both lose.

The AL field is set, but both the East and Central divisions remain tied. The Blue Jays and Yankees are both 93-68, with Toronto holding the tiebreaker. They’re hosting the Rays and Orioles, respectively, so the Jays may need to rely on that edge. After a furious comeback by the Guardians and an equally furious unraveling by the Tigers, both rivals are at 87-74 heading into the last game. Cleveland holds the tiebreaker and is facing a Rangers team that has been eliminated, while Detroit is up against a Red Sox team that has clinched.

There’s not much better than being able to scoreboard-watch without an ounce of anxiety.