Chicago Cubs Lineup (7/28/22): Steele Pitching, Contreras DH, Velázquez in Center

The Chicago Cubs (40-57) have won six straight games and haven’t lost since before the All-Star break. As nice as that may feel to most Cubs fans, the reality of a trade deadline sell-off still looms large over this team. The good news is that a lot of the young prospects that are set to get most of the playing time after the sell-off have already been in Chicago for a while now.

Justin Steele (4-6, 4.02 ERA) is no longer categorized as a prospect, but he is one of the Cubs’ young up-and-coming players to keep an eye on as the rebuild continues. He’s given up just six earned runs over his past four games covering 22.2 innings, that’s good for a 2.43 ERA over those games. Steele has definitely been pitching much better as the season progresses, which is a great sign for a young developing arm.

Christopher Morel is batting leadoff tonight playing second, Willson Contreras is DH, Ian Happ is in left, and Seiya Suzuki is in right. Nico Hoerner has been the Cubs’ best player — somewhat unexpectedly — in the first half of the season, he’s locked in at short. Patrick Wisdom is playing third, Frank Schwindel is at first, Yan Gomes is catching, and Nelson Velázquez is in center.

First pitch is scheduled for 8:45pm CT. The game will be broadcast on Marquee Sports Network and 670 The Score.

Here is tonight's #Cubs starting lineup in San Francisco. pic.twitter.com/OCzDKQxuHA

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 28, 2022