Chicago Cubs vs Cincinnati Reds Starting Lineup — Saturday, Jul 11, 2026

Chicago brings several hitters with meaningful history against Nick Lodolo. Ian Happ has been the most established success story, going 8-for-23 in 25 PA with a 1.096 OPS, while Seiya Suzuki is 5-for-15 in 25 PA with a 1.133 OPS and Pete Crow-Armstrong is 4-for-9 in 10 PA with a .944 OPS. Michael Busch is 2-for-2 with a 2.500 OPS in a tiny sample, Carson Kelly is 2-for-7 with a .572 OPS, and Nico Hoerner is 1-for-5 in 6 PA with a .533 OPS. Dansby Swanson is 3-for-16 with an .813 OPS, Miguel Amaya is hitless at 0-for-5 with 5 PA and a .000 OPS, and Alex Bregman has no MLB history vs Lodolo.

Cincinnati has much less established history against Javier Assad. Elly De La Cruz has the most exposure and is 3-for-12 in 13 PA with an .891 OPS, while TJ Friedl is 1-for-3 with a .666 OPS. Spencer Steer is hitless at 0-for-4 with 4 PA and a .000 OPS, Nathaniel Lowe is hitless at 0-for-1 with 1 PA and a .000 OPS, and Jose Trevino is hitless at 0-for-1 with 1 PA and a .000 OPS. Sal Stewart, JJ Bleday, Eugenio Suárez, and Edwin Arroyo have no MLB history vs Assad.

The familiarity edge clearly belongs to Chicago, which has several regulars with double-digit plate appearances against Lodolo and multiple productive track records. Cincinnati has only two hitters with a hit off Assad and far more unknowns in this matchup.