Nico

Hoerner

Chicago manager Craig Counsell will stick with a near-identical lineup, with the exception of Matt Shaw at the hot corner instead of Pedro Ramírez, after Tuesday’s unexpected Game 1 shutout loss at the hands of Michael King and the Padres. Crow-Armstrong struck out three times in four plate appearances in that defeat. Here’s the full lineup: Crow-Armstrong (CF), Alex Bregman (DH), Michael Busch (1B), Seiya Suzuki (RF), Ian Happ (LF), Nico Hoerner (2B), Matt Shaw (3B), Carson Kelly (C) and Dansby Swanson (SS).

Bregman is ready for the start of the postseason after returning to Chicago’s lineup less than one week after suffering multiple facial fractures when he was hit by a foul ball in the on-deck circle. It’ll be rookie Pedro Ramírez filling in at the hot corner with Bregman limited to DH as he continues to recover. Here’s the full lineup for Tuesday’s series opener in San Diego: Pete Crow-Armstrong (CF), Bregman (DH), Michael Busch (1B), Seiya Suzuki (RF), Ian Happ (LF), Nico Hoerner (2B), Ramírez (3B), Carson Kelly (C) and Dansby Swanson (SS).

It sounds like there’s a strong possibility Swanson will return for Friday’s series opener against the Reds. The 32-year-old veteran shortstop has been out with an oblique strain since mid-August. His impending return likely pushes rookie Pedro Ramírez back into a part-time role with Nico Hoerner shifting back to second base.

Arias makes a ton of sense for Chicago as a short-term stopgap solution to help fill their infield while Dansby Swanson (oblique) is on the injured list for the next couple weeks. The 26-year-old provides the Cubs with an experienced and versatile infield option behind Nico Hoerner and Pedro Ramírez. He can be safely ignored in all fantasy formats, but still represents a quality depth addition at this stage of his career.

Hoerner singled in the tying run in the bottom of the ninth before the Cubs won the game in 10 innings. It’s Hoerner’s third four-hit game of the year. All have come since the beginning of the season half, as he’s pushed him average up from a shockingly low .233 at the break to .265 now.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters that Swanson has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 oblique strain and they’re hoping that he’s able to return in roughly four weeks. The 32-year-old veteran has graded out as a top-10 fantasy option this season, hitting .216/.300/.404 with 78 runs scored, 18 homers, 66 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 458 plate appearances. It sounds like there’s a decent chance that he’s ready for the start of the postseason, if the Cubs make it that far. It’ll be Nico Hoerner taking over at shortstop with rookie Pedro Ramírez seeing the bulk of the playing time at second base.

It looks to just be a routine day off. Pedro Ramírez is batting sixth and playing second base in Hoerner’s absence.

Hoerner’s stolen base was his 18th of the season as he continued his strong start to the second half. The veteran second baseman isn’t hitting for as high an average as fantasy managers are accustomed to, but he’ll likely finish with double-digit homers and roughly 25 thefts. The Cubs entered the day as MLB’s second-highest-scoring offense, which will help his counting stats too.

Hoerner gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead with a dribbler to second that was able to score a run. He hit the ball considerable further a couple innings later with a solo homer off a (yet again) ineffective Edwin Díaz. Hoerner has now gone deep seven times in 2026, and he’s been able to procure 53 RBI.

Hoerner tied the game at 2-2 in the seventh before the Cubs added on two more then and one in the eighth. Hoerner has two homers in six games after going 80 straight games without one from Apr. 22 until June 27. He’s hitting .410/.419/.541 with 13 RBI in 15 games since the break.