Chicago Cubs Lineup (8/16/26): Cabrera Returns in Series Finale
In a coincidental twist, I will actually be at Busch Stadium this evening right around the time this game is wrapping up. My son and I have field-level seats for Public Enemy and Guns ‘N Roses, which should be a very interesting show. I expect there to be a lot more fans in attendance than at the average Cardinals game this season, so that’s nice.
My hope is that there will be a lot of disappointed concert-goers when the see what happened to the Cards. Shota Imanaga was initially scheduled to start this one, but he’s being bumped back a day to accommodate Edward Cabrera’s return from the IL. Cabrera has looked fantastic in his last two rehab starts, mixing a 98 mph fastball with a wrong-way slider that moves arm-side.
Craig Counsell indicated that one starter will have at least their next turn skipped, after which the Cubs could play around with a six-man rotation. David Peterson will be bumped, at least temporarily, and Javier Assad has been optioned to Triple-A to clear a roster spot. As good as it would be for Cabrera to dominate, his goal is simply to keep the Cards within striking distance for an offense that might be the most dynamic in the game right now.
They’ll be facing righty Hunter Dobbins for the third time this season after he worked as a long reliever the first two times. I did a double take when checking on it, but he actually relieved Friday starter Matthew Liberatore in both games. The first came on May 31, with Liberatore going 5.1 innings before Dobbins completed an unconventional save by finishing the game. Then Dobbins went 5.1 on July 27 after Liberatore was ineffective to start.
This will be the 26-year-old’s seventh start and 10th MLB appearance this season, his first with the Cards after coming over in the Willson Contreras trade last December. Dobbins had made 11 starts for Boston in 2025, but suffered a torn ACL in his right knee and was still rehabbing when he was dealt. He figures to be a part of the rebuilding Cards’ rotation for years to come, and he strikes me as the kind of pitcher they’ve always liked.
Even though this is a different regime from the ones that presided over sustained periods of success, it seems like St. Louis always has a bunch of exceedingly average-ish starters who get better results than you’d expect. Dobbins goes 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, throws a cutty 95 mph fastball, and has a very good sinker/splitter mix that helps him get outs via contact.
He doesn’t get much chase and won’t miss a ton of bats, but he still manages to strike out about a batter per inning. The splitter has been so good that, despite throwing it only 19% of the time to left-handed hitters, McGreevy has posted massive reverse splits. Lefies are slashing just .214/.294/.316 against him, while righties are at .284/.354/.500 this season. That comes mostly from even more disparate lines in St. Louis, so he’s been more even on the road.
The Cubs have done pretty well against him across 40 total at-bats, putting up an .817 OPS that includes homers from Bregman and Hoerner. On paper, this one favors the home team in a big way. We’ll find out at 2:15pm CT on ABC and The Score.
