The Cubs can clinch the series Wednesday night, and they’ll do it with a lineup that looks a little different again.
Chicago enters Busch Stadium at 61-46, and a win over the Cardinals would get them to 62 victories, along with a season-high 16 games over .500. After back-to-back dominant showings from the offense, the Cubs have a chance to keep the momentum rolling in St. Louis.
The lineup starts with Pete Crow-Armstrong in center field, followed by Seiya Suzuki in right, Michael Busch at first, Alex Bregman at third, Ian Happ in left, Michael Conforto as the DH, Pedro Ramirez at second, Dansby Swanson at shortstop and Miguel Amaya catching.
Nico Hoerner is getting the night off, with Ramirez stepping in for a second straight start and his fifth in the last six games. The rookie has earned the opportunity.
He is batting .444 over his last seven games, and his OPS since reaching the majors is .833. Over the last three games alone, he has piled up seven hits, including a three-hit performance in Game 2 of the series.
That hot stretch has made Ramirez hard to remove from the lineup, and it also leaves the Cubs with another decision to weigh. The question now is whether they keep riding the rookie or view him as possible trade leverage. This week has made one thing clear: no Cubs youngster is safe from a possible deal.
Chicago is also shuffling the rest of the defense. Happ moves back to left field to open the DH spot for Conforto, while Amaya returns behind the plate for Carson Kelly.
Bregman is another name worth watching. He has caught fire lately, hitting .323 over his last seven games.
After a four-hit night in the series opener, he followed it up with three more hits on Tuesday. The timing matters, because the Cubs could use that kind of surge right now.
On the mound, Matthew Boyd has looked much more like the 2025 All-Star version of himself over the past couple of weeks. Against the Pirates in his last outing, he allowed one run over 7.0 innings.
The start before that, he gave up just three hits and a solo run in 6.0 innings. He still puts runners on base, but he has been handling those moments without letting them snowball.
Across his last four starts, Boyd has posted a 2.13 ERA and worked at least 6.0 innings every time. The Cubs have badly needed that kind of stability.
The Cardinals are sending Dustin May to the mound. He has a 4.59 ERA in 20 appearances this season and brings plenty of velocity, with a fastball that reaches nearly 97 mph and a cutter around 93 mph. His best pitch is his sinker, especially against right-handers, and it carries a 32.6 percent whiff rate overall.
May has also had trouble working deep into games lately. If the Cubs come out as aggressive as they were early Tuesday, they could again push St. Louis into the bullpen before long.
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Oliver Marmol said Dobbins can be recalled immediately if trades create an opening, which is the kind of timing detail that matters when a front office expects more than one deal to land. St. Louis has already lined up a path for younger arms to step into the picture, and the current setup suggests the Cardinals are preparing to reshape the bullpen and perhaps more before the deadline dust settles. [Read more 🡒]
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Jackson Holliday is the name that has surfaced in that broader discussion, with the idea being less about where he plays today and more about how he might solve a future problem for St. Louis. He is still young enough to fit the Cardinals planning window, and any serious pursuit would likely hinge on how far the front office is willing to go without touching the very top of its prospect group, which is where the real tension in this kind of deal begins. [Read more 🡒]