Chicago Cubs Lineup (3/6/26): Shaw in RF, Cowles at 3B, Brown Bump Day

The Cubs will be in Peoria for a rare spring training night game, and the timing couldn’t be much worse for those who like to watch their team’s Cactus League contests. As you probably already know, Team USA opens its WBC run in Houston at almost the same time. I may flip back and forth, but the US vs. Brazil matchup is more intriguing to me.

That said, I’m very interested to see how Ben Brown looks with more confidence in his changeup and a new sinker that is supposed to be pretty good. Having four pitches instead of two makes him a far more viable option, whether it’s as rotation depth or a trade chip, though I really wish he’d have gotten started on this repertoire expansion three years ago.

The lineup behind Brown is indicative of the game’s time and location, with Matt Shaw in right, Dylan Carlson at DH, and Moisés Ballesteros behind the plate. Chas McCormick is in left, Jefferson Rojas is at short, and Owen Miller plays first. Scott Kingery is at second, Ben Cowles mans the hot corner, and Justin Dean is in center.

They’re facing a relatively familiar opponent in righty Germán Márquez, who is still best known for beaning Kris Bryant several years ago. Márquez has made just one spring start so far, and it was a pretty ugly one. Not that we should be taking much from two innings of work, mind you. What can make much of are his disastrous 2025 numbers, which created what might be the worst Baseball Savant page I’ve ever seen.

Marquee posted single-digit percentiles in 11 of 16 categories, which is truly remarkable. All his stuff kind of bled together and he filled up the heart of the zone, which is a pretty awful combination for a guy who pitched his home games in Denver. Maybe San Diego’s marine layer will help.

First pitch is at 7:10pm CT on MLB Network.