Chicago Cubs Lineup (5/7/26): Conforto in RF, Amaya Catching, Imanaga Starting
The Cubs have now won 14 in a row at home, the last three of which have all come via walk-off against the Reds. Extending the streak this afternoon will mean four straight home sweeps, two of which will be of the four-game variety, and two sweeps in a row on the wrong end for Cincy. The NL Central remains the only division in baseball in which all the teams are above .500, but the Cubs have started to pull away from the field.
It’s hard to put into words what they’re doing lately, but it’s clear they are playing with a great deal of confidence. That will be put to the test with Matthew Boyd out for an indefinite period after suffering a meniscus injury in his right knee while playing with his kids, but offense has been the Cubs’ calling card all season and figures to remain so moving forward.
Shōta Imanaga might beg to differ with that reality now that he’s resumed his ace form through seven starts. Outside of two outings in which he gave up four earned runs on six hits, Imanaga has been nails. In fact, he’s only given up three total runs in his other five starts combined. He is hammering the top of the zone with a 92 mph fastball that is back up a tick from last year, but his splitter has created the most value for him.
Surprisingly, his sinker has also been outstanding. Though he only throws it about 6% of the time, triple his past usage, it’s created 2.6 runs of value and is nearly three times more valuable than the splitter on a per-pitch basis. The sweeper and curve have also been good, and the whole mix has combined to produce a 98th-percentile chase rate with some of the best strikeout numbers in the game.
When Imanaga is on the bump, you have even more confidence than usual that the Cubs will get the job done. It almost seems like pitching doesn’t matter when Nico Hoerner is leading off and playing superb defense at second. Moisés Ballesteros is the DH, Alex Bregman is at third, and Ian Happ is in left. Michael Busch plays first, Michael Conforto is in right, and Dansby Swanson is at short. Pete Crow-Armstrong bats eighth in center, and Miguel Amaya rounds things out behind the dish.
They’re up against 24-year-old righty Rhett Lowder, who you would assume is a southern boy even if you didn’t know he was born and raised in North Carolina. The former Wake Forest star was drafted seventh overall in 2023 and matriculated very quickly through the system to make his debut in 2024. He missed most of last season due to forearm and oblique strains that limited him to 9.1 combined innings in the minors.
Back with the big club from the start of this season, he’s made seven starts with a 5.09 ERA. Lowder’s fastball velocity is at 93 mph, down almost two full ticks from earlier in his young career, but his 92.3 mph sinker isn’t down quite as much. That’s important because the sinker leads his balanced attack. He throws that pitch about 31% of the time, with the slider (25%), heater (24%), and change (21%) following.
He leans more heavily on his sinker and slider against righties, so having trouble with the latter pitch in the early going has led to a little trouble. But while righties carry a higher average against him, lefty batters reach base at a far higher clip and also slug a little more. Lowder may have given up just one homer so far, but there has been a whole lot of loud(er?) contact against him.
The Cubs should be able to leverage that this afternoon with a stiff breeze blowing out to right-center. Being patient and forcing the young righty to come to them should yield plenty of opportunities to do damage, and it sure would be nice to have a game that doesn’t come down to the wire.
First pitch is at 1:20pm CT on Marquee and The Score.
Catching the afternoon Sho ??️ pic.twitter.com/C4rqhfi3Bi
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) May 7, 2026
