St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs Starting Lineup — Sunday, Jul 5, 2026

St. Louis has a few notable results against Javier Assad, led by Masyn Winn, who is 5-for-5 in 6 PA with a 2.600 OPS, and Alec Burleson, who is 3-for-8 in 9 PA with a .375 average and .833 OPS. Lars Nootbaar has also had some success at 2-for-9 in 10 PA with a .222 average and .744 OPS. Iván Herrera is 0-for-5 with a .000 OPS, Jordan Walker is 0-for-5 with a .000 OPS, Nathan Church is 0-for-2 with a .000 OPS, and José Fermín is 0-for-2 in 3 PA with a .333 OPS, while JJ Wetherholt and Bryan Torres have no MLB history vs that pitcher.

Chicago brings much broader familiarity against Matthew Liberatore. Nico Hoerner is 4-for-11 in 12 PA with a .364 average and .872 OPS, Pete Crow-Armstrong is 3-for-10 in 11 PA with a .300 average and .864 OPS, and Michael Busch is 2-for-7 with a .286 average and 1.143 OPS. Kevin Alcántara is 1-for-2 with a 1.000 OPS, Carson Kelly is 2-for-8 with a .250 average and .500 OPS, and Dansby Swanson is 2-for-11 in 13 PA with a .182 average and .490 OPS. Seiya Suzuki is 1-for-11 in 12 PA with a .091 average and .258 OPS, Alex Bregman is 0-for-2 with a .000 OPS, and Ian Happ has just one hit in 12 trips, going 1-for-8 in 12 PA with a .125 average and .917 OPS.

The Cubs clearly have more hitters with established history against the opposing starter. St. Louis has a couple of standout matchup lines, but Chicago’s lineup shows deeper familiarity top to bottom.