PREVIEW Starts 8:05 PM ET · Wrigley Field
August 18, 2026 · NL Cent

Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs

August 18, 20268:05 PM ETWrigley Field
AWAY
Chicago White Sox
59-55
@
HOME
Chicago Cubs
67-49

Lineups

Lineups are usually announced ~90 minutes before first pitch. Check back soon.

Hitter season stats

Season-to-date lines for each hitter in the projected lineup, with a Marcel projection (Proj OPS). Season columns are 2026 to date; Proj is a forward-looking estimate, not a result.

AWAY · CWS Projected · top 9 by AB
BATTER 2026 SEASON PROJ OPS
AVGOBPSLGOPSHRRBIK
1 Miguel Vargas 3B · R .236 .341 .471 .812 24 67 90 .720
2 Chase Meidroth 2B · R .275 .352 .405 .757 11 44 106 .728
3 Colson Montgomery SS · L .216 .298 .445 .743 25 65 147 .752
4 Sam Antonacci LF · L .278 .366 .410 .776 8 34 58 .746
5 Andrew Benintendi DH · L .246 .306 .431 .737 12 57 83 .709
6 Tristan Peters CF · L .263 .322 .409 .731 6 38 63 .733
7 Munetaka Murakami 1B · L .236 .370 .525 .895 24 51 116 .733
8 Braden Montgomery RF · S .228 .307 .363 .670 3 22 41 .746
9 Luisangel Acuña SS · R .243 .274 .278 .552 1 12 33 .735
HOME · CHC Projected · top 9 by AB
BATTER 2026 SEASON PROJ OPS
AVGOBPSLGOPSHRRBIK
1 Nico Hoerner 2B · R .260 .321 .363 .684 7 54 45 .723
2 Alex Bregman 3B · R .248 .338 .384 .722 12 50 83 .738
3 Michael Busch 1B · L .241 .352 .390 .742 14 63 117 .748
4 Pete Crow-Armstrong CF · L .289 .386 .550 .936 26 69 136 .744
5 Ian Happ LF · S .211 .323 .404 .727 18 48 148 .735
6 Dansby Swanson SS · R .217 .294 .406 .700 17 63 101 .713
7 Seiya Suzuki RF · R .270 .364 .476 .840 19 64 111 .749
8 Carson Kelly C · R .265 .352 .381 .733 7 40 50 .712
9 Michael Conforto DH · L .227 .323 .448 .771 9 24 58 .706

Manager comparison

AWAY · CWS
Will Venable
Lineup 5.0 R Bunts 3.1 R IBBs 2.0 R
HOME · CHC
Craig Counsell
Lineup 3.3 R Bunts 0.7 R IBBs 0.9 R

Bullpen availability

AWAY · CWS
  • Available 3
  • Limited 3
  • Rest required 1
  • Inactive 0
HOME · CHC
  • Available 5
  • Limited 0
  • Rest required 0
  • Inactive 0

Recent form

AWAY · CWS
4-6 L3 -8 run diff
LLLWLWWWLL
HOME · CHC
7-3 W4 +20 run diff
WWWWLWLWLW

Pitching & bullpen preview

Probable starters and each bullpen's availability load in the sections above — the White Sox and Cubs staffs going in.

Once the game ends, a full pitching and bullpen breakdown appears here: starter lines, the relief sequence and each arm's role, pitch counts, and where the game turned.

Keep reading

How RunsLeft analyzes games

Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. The pitching analysis describes how the game was pitched — the starter's line, the bullpen sequence and each arm's role (opener, bulk, setup, closer), pitch counts as a fatigue signal, and the leverage context where the game turned. Reliever roles are inferred from how the manager used each arm up to that date. It describes structure and constraints; it does not grade the manager.

Read the full methodology.