PREVIEW Starts 6:40 PM ET · Great American Ball Park
September 18, 2026 · NL Cent

Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati Reds

September 18, 20266:40 PM ETGreat American Ball Park
AWAY
Chicago Cubs
67-49
@
HOME
Cincinnati Reds
56-58

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 · 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
HOME · CIN Projected · top 9 by AB
BATTER 2026 SEASON PROJ OPS
AVGOBPSLGOPSHRRBIK
1 Sal Stewart 1B · R .257 .336 .484 .820 25 87 109 .753
2 Elly De La Cruz SS · S .276 .356 .501 .857 19 53 115 .761
3 JJ Bleday LF · L .230 .344 .470 .814 20 47 77 .725
4 Eugenio Suárez DH · R .202 .281 .387 .668 14 40 123 .728
5 Matt McLain 2B · R .190 .289 .331 .620 9 27 91 .729
6 Tyler Stephenson C · R .252 .337 .420 .757 10 33 79 .726
7 TJ Friedl CF · L .165 .251 .248 .499 3 11 54 .728
8 Noelvi Marte RF · R .197 .239 .341 .580 6 15 45 .737
9 Dane Myers CF · R .263 .362 .363 .725 3 17 54 .708

Manager comparison

AWAY · CHC
Craig Counsell
Lineup 3.3 R Bunts 0.7 R IBBs 0.9 R
HOME · CIN
Terry Francona
Lineup 2.3 R Bunts 2.0 R IBBs 3.4 R

Bullpen availability

AWAY · CHC
  • Available 5
  • Limited 0
  • Rest required 0
  • Inactive 0
HOME · CIN
  • Available 6
  • Limited 2
  • Rest required 0
  • Inactive 1

Recent form

AWAY · CHC
7-3 W4 +20 run diff
WWWWLWLWLW
HOME · CIN
7-3 W4 +6 run diff
WWWWLWWLLW

Season series: 2-1 with CHC listed first across 3 prior meetings.

Pitching & bullpen preview

Probable starters and each bullpen's availability load in the sections above — the Cubs and Reds 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.