Chicago Cubs Lineup (3/17/26): Busch at 1B, Mo Baller DH, Imanaga Starting

The Cubs have another late game tonight, a fact that isn’t made any better by the fact that Team USA is playing for the WBC title at the same time. The WBC game actually starts about an hour earlier, but it’s also on TV. The best solution might be to mute John Smoltz and pull up the radio call of the Cubs game on The Score. It might be best to mute Smoltz regardless of whatever else you’re doing.

Tuesday’s game gives Shota Imanaga another opportunity to dial in after a pair of starts in which he gave up three earned runs apiece. His strike-throwing has never been in question, nor has his propensity for giving up homers, but he started making far too many mistakes last season. That has been the case this spring as well, with opponents finding more barrels than you’d like to see.

Questions about Imanaga’s ability to get back to something more like his 2024 season have only gotten louder with Jameson Taillon‘s alarming performance to date. This rotation doesn’t feature a lot of workhorses with impeccable health histories, either, so the Cubs really need those guys at the bottom to pull their weight. Maybe we’ll see Imanaga tighten things up tonight.

Michael Busch is leading off at first, which might not have been the case had the Angels stuck with their original starter. Nico Hoerner bats and plays second, Ian Happ is in left, Dansby Swanson is at short, and Michael Conforto is in right. Carson Kelly does the catching, Moisés Ballesteros is the DH, Dylan Carlson is in center, and Pedro Ramirez handles third base.

I was way behind schedule with this one for a variety of reasons, on of which is that I’d written it up when lefty Mitch Farris was the probable starter. The Angels have flipped to Alek Manoah, who looked like the next big thing with Toronto in 2022 before falling off a cliff. Manoah finished third in Cy Young voting following a sophomore campaign in which he posted a 2.24 ERA over 31 starts, showing near-pinpoint control and keeping the ball in the yard.

Then came an implosion the following season that saw his ERA balloon to 5.87 as he walked nearly as many batters as he struck out. The Blue Jays optioned him to the low minors to figure things out, and he looked much better in limited action last season outside of a few homers, but he was designated for assignment at the end of the season.

After a very brief stint with the Braves during the offseason, he signed with the Angels. Pretty savvy move, honestly, as they’ve always been willing to pick up dudes whose best days are behind them. Of course, Manoah just turned 28 and could conceivably have a lot of good baseball left. He’s got to do a lot of work to make that happen, starting with a tweak to his changeup.

That pitch has been his worst, largely because it so closely resembles his riding sinker. His stuff plays up because he gets serious extension from his 6-foot-6, 285-pound frame, though it’s not been enough lately to make him consistently successful. I’m interested to see whether he can recapture his form from a few years ago.

First pitch is at 8:05pm CT on The Score.

Taking on the Angels at home. pic.twitter.com/lRbJbhzC1g

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) March 17, 2026