Chicago Cubs Lineup (4/7/26): Hoerner Leading Off, Conforto in LF, Assad Starting

The Cubs’ slow start has been compounded by the loss of two starting pitchers, but there’s a sense that their luck has to turn around at some point. That’s the case on the hitting side, anyway. As for the pitching staff, well, Cade Horton is seeking a second opinion after the results from his MRI were apparently not good. Then there’s Matthew Boyd, who already needs a two-week vacation because he wasn’t bouncing back well from some bicep irritation.

While I am a firm believer that discretion is indeed the better part of valor, I find shelving a guy for 15 with what the club is saying publicly is not concerning to be quite concerning. Then again, I’m Chicken Little with this stuff. Whatever happens moving forward, we know that Colin Rea and Javier Assad are being pressed into big roles early.

Assad got the call from Iowa to fill in for Boyd, so this will be his first MLB appearance of the season after mixed results in two outings at Triple-A. He tossed three scoreless innings with five strikeouts and three walks the first time out, then surrendered seven earned runs on 11 hits (two homers) and three walks last week. He’s going to need to be far sharper tonight against a team that has shown it can mash.

It’ll help if the Cubs can get the bats going early, something they’ve not been doing very often through the first 10 games. Though they are doing a good job of seeing pitches and making opposing starters work, they’re getting very little to show for it. Much of their potential output has been hampered by misfortune, with hard-hit balls finding gloves at an inordinately high rate.

There’s reason to believe that luck will turn, and in a big way, so maybe they can get started on that tonight. Nico Hoerner has been pulling his weight and he’s in the leadoff spot despite having a righty on the mound. More of that, please. Michael Busch bats second, Alex Bregman bats and plays third, and Pete Crow-Armstrong cleans up in center. Miguel Amaya is behind the plate, Moises Ballesteros is the DH, Dansby Swanson plays short, Michael Conforto is in left, and Matt Shaw is in right.

Drew Rasmussen was originally scheduled to start for the Rays in this one, but was scratched because his wife is delivering their baby early. Instead, righty reliever Mason Englert will open what is expected to be a bullpen game. Englert has only pitched one inning apiece in each of his three appearances this season, but he’s been a multi-inning guy over parts of three previous seasons and could record more than three outs if needed.

He’s a throwback when it comes to relievers because his fastball is only 93-94 mph and he throws it as a secondary. Leading with his 86 mph changeup would presumably make Englert a reverse-split guy, but he’s actually comfortable throwing it to all hitters. That might not be a good thing, as lefties have tagged him for a .308/.361/.505 slash to this point.

Englert’s game is to work the edges, but it’s not very effective because he tends to hang way too many pitches. He will give up his share of hard contact, which could work in his favor given how bad the Cubs’ luck has been on hard-hit balls. This is a good chance for the visitors to jump ahead early, so now we just have to wait and see if they can take advantage of it.

First pitch is at 5:40pm CT on Marquee and 104.3 The Score.