Chicago Cubs Lineup (3/18/26): Shaw in RF, Amaya Catching, Cabrera on Hill

The Cubs have gotten two excellent starting pitching performances in their last two games, with 18 combined strikeouts for Cade Horton and Shōta Imanaga. Up next is Edward Cabrera, who has been their best pitcher so far in Cactus League play. His 1.08 ERA and eight strikeouts over three starts offer a tantalizing vision of how good he can be.

It helps that these spring crowds are in line with what Cabrera was used to pitching in front of with the Marlins, so just imagine how good he’ll be with a packed house at Wrigley. As good as the numbers have been, though, the most important thing this afternoon is stretching him out and keeping him healthy.

Supporting him is a relatively thin lineup with several non-roster guys, though Matt Shaw is leading off in left with Miguel Amaya behind the plate. Michael Conforto plays left as he looks to earn a roster spot, which we should know about by this weekend. Kevin Alcantara is in center, Jonathon Long is at first, B.J. Murray is at third, and Jefferson Rojas is at short. Scott Kingery bats eighth at second and James Triantos rounds things out as the DH.

Opposing them is longtime Diamondback Merrill Kelly, who is entering his eighth season in Arizona. He actually finished last season in Texas following a deadline trade, but then he re-signed with the Snakes in December. This seems to be a case of a guy who plans to retire in the area, which has been the case for a few players in the past.

Kelly turned 37 at the end of last season and plans to pitch through at least 2027 after agreeing to a two-year, $40 million deal, so we’ll see if he can maintain what has been a very consistent tenure to this point. You know what you’re getting with Kelly every time out, and that’s a varied repertoire with heavy changeup usage to help his 92 mph fastball play up a little.

He gets a lot of depth on that offspeed pitch, using his low arm slot to create uncomfortable angles for hitters, and his command allows him to work in, out, up, and down. Kelly is the definition of pitchability, which is why he’s been so steady for so long. Not very exciting, but his workmanlike approach gets the job done more often than not.

First pitch from Salt River Fields at Talking Stick is at 3:10pm CT on D-backs audio.