Chicago Cubs Lineup (6/20/21): Pederson Leads Off, KB at 3B, Mills Starting Again

I’ve been at the fields all morning with youth baseball, so this is going to be even more brief than usual. Joc Pederson is leading off in left, Kris Bryant is at third, and Javier Báez is the shortstop. Anthony Rizzo plays first, Willson Contreras is the catcher, Ian Happ is in center, Jason Heyward is in right, and Sergio Alcántara is at second.

Alec Mills is being pressed into starting duty for the third time this season as Trevor Williams and Adbert Alzolay continue to work back from the IL. The soft-tossing righty was not at all spectacular in his last start against the Mets, but he kept the Cubs in the game for over four innings and struck out six with two walks. That’s about all you can ask from a guy in that situation.

On the mound for the Marlins is tall righty Zach Thompson, who is making just his third start of the season. He’s struck out seven with just one walk over eight innings and has yielded just two runs on eight hits. With the way the Cubs’ bats have gone dormant, Thompson may be able to put up his best performance of the season without really trying.

The rookie doesn’t have a big fastball, but the hard stuff is really just there to set up the cutter. That’s his best pitch and he throws it about 40% of the time, which has led to him baffling righties in the early going. Without much of a sample at the MLB level, there’s not much else to go on.

The Cubs will either break out in a big way this afternoon or they’ll soil the bed for the third time in the series. First pitch is set for 1:20pm CT on Marquee and 670 The Score.

Here is today's #Cubs starting lineup at Wrigley Field.#CubTogether pic.twitter.com/VrkLAPk0um

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 20, 2021