Dansby

Swanson

Swanson wound up 2-for-17 with no RBI and nine strikeouts in the NLDS and 4-for-26 with one RBI and 15 strikeouts between his two postseason series this year. That’s a tough way to end another fine season in which he went 20/20 for the first time and finished with a 105 OPS+ that’s several points better than his career mark of 96.

Chicago will attempt to stave off elimination for the second straight contest at Wrigley Field by rolling out the exact same lineup, which features Busch in the leadoff spot to face Brewers ace Freddy Peralta. The 27-year-old slugger blasted a solo homer — his third postseason round-tripper — in the Cubs’ pivotal Game 3 win. Here’s the full lineup: Busch (1B), Nico Hoerner (2B), Kyle Tucker (DH), Seiya Suzuki (RF), Ian Happ (LF), Carson Kelly (C), Pete Crow-Armstrong (CF), Dansby Swanson (SS) and Matt Shaw (3B).

Cubs manager Craig Counsell will shake things up with veteran Justin Turner leading off, while Michael Busch starts on the bench. Lefty opener Aaron Ashby will take the ball for Milwaukee to kick off the contest before Quinn Priester enters in a bulk relief role. Here’s the full lineup: Turner (1B), Nico Hoerner (2B), Kyle Tucker (DH), Seiya Suzuki (RF), Ian Happ (LF), Carson Kelly (C), Pete Crow-Armstring (CF), Dansby Swanson (SS) and Matt Shaw (3B).

Suzuki has been bumped up to the cleanup spot to face Brewers ace Freddy Peralta, with Ian Happ moved down a couple spots, after going 3-for-11 with one homer and a pair of doubles in Chicago’s Wild Card Series victory over San Diego. The 31-year-old corner outfielder finished the season with an impressive power surge and is clearly building some momentum heading into fantasy drafts next spring. Here’s the full lineup: Michael Busch (1B), Nico Hoerner (2B), Kyle Tucker (DH), Suzuki (RF), Happ (LF), Carson Kelly (C), Pete Crow-Armstrong (CF), Dansby Swanson (SS) and Matt Shaw (3B).

It’s Swanson’s first 20-steal season and, thus, his first 20/20 season. Swanson had just 40 steals in his first six seasons in the bigs, but he’s up to 66 in his last four years.

Swanson got the party started early with a three-run homer off an ineffective Jake Irvin in the first inning. That gives him 22 homers on the campaign, while the stolen base is his 12th. It’s the first homer in September for the 31-year-old after hitting five in August. You can do better, you can definitely do worse.

Swanson’s homers came off objectively two of the worst pitchers in baseball in Germán Márquez and Antonio Senzatela, but count just the same. The 31-year-old has now homered 21 times and driven in 65 runs while forging a slash of .251/.300/.428. Add in 10 stolen bases, and Swanson has put together a solid — if unspectacular — fantasy campaign in 2025.

Swanson was actually just 2-for-9 in the series, but he made those hits count. He’s 6-for-39 with a 16/1 K/BB over his last 11 games, dropping his average to .245 and his OBP to an uncharacteristic .294. Because he’s not walking much, his OBP is down 27 points from his career mark, even though his average is down just seven points.

Castro will make his Cubs debut on Saturday afternoon with Nico Hoerner shifting over to cover shortstop with Dansby Swanson drawing a rare day off. The widely-held expectation is that Castro will spend the majority of the final two months at the hot corner over rookie Matt Shaw, who has shown some real signs of life recently, but might not be ready to play everyday on a true title contender.

Swanson helped to break open the game with a 381-foot shot that left the bat at 103.1 mph for his 16th home run of the season. He also had a 104.3 mph lineout and a 95.4 mph single on the day. The shortstop is now 15-for-50 (.300) in July with two home runs, seven RBI, and nine runs scored. He probably doesn’t want to go on a four-day break.