Chicago Cubs Lineup (5/14/26): Suzuki DH, Shaw in RF, Brown Facing Sale

Remember how we kept talking about how it was good for the Cubs to be stacking wins like they were getting ready for a period of hibernation. We didn’t know things were going to go ice-cold so quickly, but their recent skid shows why it was so important to build a little nest egg. With just three runs scored across the last 38 innings, this team is in need of a wake-up call.

That might have to come after tonight, as we’ll get into here in a bit, but they have the right man on the mound to ensure that even a little offense might be good enough. Of course, the same could have been said for Shota Imanaga last night. Ben Brown has given up only six earned runs over 12 relief appearances and one start, and four of those scores came in his first three outings.

With only one earned run allowed over his last nine appearances, he’s showing that he might have to stuff to work out of the rotation after all. The key has been the implementation of a sinker to a repertoire that had previously included a fastball, curve, and seldom-used changeup. Brown is getting by with a little more luck than you’d like, but a lot of that comes from doing a much better job of generating grounders. More of that tonight should at least give his lineup a puncher’s chance.

Of course, Brown’s participation is going to be limited to around four innings tonight. Craig Counsell said that’s all the Cubs were hoping for, though another sharp performance could see him go a little deeper before turning it over to the bullpen.

Nico Hoerner is in his familiar spots, followed by Alex Bregman in his and Ian Happ moving up to third in the order with a southpaw going for the Braves. Seiya Suzuki assumes the DH duties, Matt Shaw gets his first start in four days and first in right since April 15, and Michael Busch is at first. Dansby Swanson handles short, Miguel Amaya returns to catch after resting a stiff back, and Pete Crow-Armstrong patrols center.

It’s never good when you drop the first two games of a series and then have to face the opposing team’s ace, but that’s what’s happening with Chris Sale on the bump. The sidearming southpaw shows no signs of slowing down, as evidenced by a fastball that sits at a career-best 95.4 mph through eight starts. Even if we assume he’ll lose a little gas as the season drags out, maintaining that kind of consistency over the last 10 years is impressive.

Sale used to throw his sinker and change a lot more often than he does now, with those two pitches making up over 80% of his repertoire back in 2014. Now it’s more like 20%, which is double what it was last year. He now throws his sinker-ish four-seam and sweepy slider with perfectly equal frequency, though he varies their usage based on handedness.

The slider is about the same regardless of who’s at the plate, as he’s able to use that arm angle to his extreme advantage. Left-handed hitters have to stay in against a pitch that looks like it starts behind them, and righties are facing a breaking ball that bears in on them hard. Except that it’s only thrown at 78-79 mph, giving Sale a massive velocity disparity. Among all the pitchers I’ve broken down, none is better at dotting their slider like Sale.

Rather than having one concentrated location on the heat map, he has a sea of red at each of the two lower corners of the zone. Like a skilled burglar, he’s able to make his way in either the front or the back door with ease. Righties will see mainly fastball/slider with his depthy changeup mixed in 16% of the time; lefties see fewer fastballs with more sinkers that Sale will land down and in.

We’re talking about an experienced pitcher with elite stuff and excellent command. Not only is he in the 97th percentile for chase rate, but he’s also in the 82nd for walk rate. Like Jacob deGrom a few days ago, Sale is more than willing to bully batters with strikes because he knows he’s good enough to get away with it. There really aren’t any weak spots in his game, other than maybe allowing a few too many barrels.

Sale has worked seven innings in three of his last four starts, and he’s struck out 34 with six walks over that time. This is just one of those games where you have to hope that either he’s off his game or the Cubs can figure out a way to manufacture just enough runs to scrape by. Their aggregate .765 OPS against Sale is actually better than I’d have guessed, thanks in large part to Bregman’s .900 mark with two homers in 24 at-bats. No one else on the team has more than four AB’s against Sale.

At the very least, we should see some fun stuff on the pitching side tonight. First pitch is at 6:15pm CT on Marquee and The Score.

Series finale starters. ⤵️

Watch the game live on @WatchMarquee. pic.twitter.com/f1D7Vx6TbB

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 14, 2026