Cubs reveal Opening Day lineup as Craig Counsell mixes things up
The Chicago Cubs will make their stateside 2025 season debut in an Opening Day showdown with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night. Chicago was swept, 0-2, by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Tokyo Series a couple of weeks ago, but this is a chance to start fresh and get a W on the board.
Craig Counsell is pulling out all the stops to secure Chicago’s first victory, making a few noteworthy tweaks to his starting lineup. The core remains the same — Ian Happ, Kyle Tucker, and Seiya Suzuki in the 1, 2, 3 holes — but with Nico Hoerner back from a lingering forearm injury, Counsell has shuffled the deck a bit in the back half of the lineup.
Here is how everything shapes up.
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Craig Counsell changes up Cubs Opening Day lineup with Nico Hoerner back from injury
| Order | Name | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ian Happ | LF |
| 2 | Kyle Tucker | RF |
| 3 | Seiya Suzuki | DH |
| 4 | Michael Busch | 1B |
| 5 | Dansby Swanson | SS |
| 6 | Nico Hoerner | 2B |
| 7 | Pete Crow-Armstrong | SS |
| 8 | Matt Shaw | 3B |
| 9 | Miguel Amaya | C |
| P | Justin Steele | RHP |
No huge shockers here.
Nico Hoerner has been Chicago’s go-to in the leadoff spot for ages, but Counsell is understandably rolling with the more dynamic and powerful Happ. MLB is moving away from your traditionally speedy and contact-focused leadoff hitters. Happ drew almost twice as many walks (80) as Hoerner (44) last season, with a meaningfully better OPS (.782 to .708) as well.
The real shift here, however, is bumping Dansby Swanson to the No. 5 spot. Chicago’s rookie third baseman, Matt Shaw, occupied the No. 5 hole in Tokyo, with Swanson batting sixth. Shaw put up one hit in nine at-bats in the L.A. series, while Swanson tallied two hits and a run across six at-bats.
How Swanson performs this season could very well determine the extent of the Cubs’ success. The playoffs are on everyone’s mind after the Tucker trade, but Chicago’s lineup has been precariously short on consistent slugging in recent years. Swanson was supposed to be a marquee star, but he has struggled to live up to an exorbitant contract. He appeared in 149 games last season, posting a .701 OPS with 16 home runs.
Swanson should have plenty left in the tank at 31 years old. He’s a talented defender, a dangerous base-runner, and when right, a threat to whack 20-30 home runs. Chicago would love nothing more than for Swanson to earn this promotion and bring a new element of pop to this Cubs lineup. Shaw, meanwhile, seems like he will need some time to get fully up to speed at the MLB level.
The biggest wild card moving forward is Pete Crow-Armstrong, who has made his desire to bat leadoff well known. Counsell has been reluctant to fully unleash PCA to date, but it’s only a matter of time until Chicago’s electric centerfielder forces another seismic change.
Arizona, meanwhile, will trot out hard-throwing righty Zac Gallen at Chase Field. Not an easy assignment, but Cubs fans can take some solace in the fact that they will miss Corbin Burnes, who won’t start until the Diamondbacks’Â fifth game.
