Alex Bregman joins a familiar core. Discover the projected Opening Day lineup and how Moises Ballesteros impacts Matt Shaw's role.
The Chicago Cubs enter the season with a very similar lineup from last year.
The only two major differences are that Alex Bregman will replace Kyle Tucker and Moises Ballesteros will see consistent at-bats. Ballesteros’ arrival will push Matt Shaw into more of a reserve role against right-handed pitching this season.
Despite losing an All-Star bat in Tucker in the offseason, the Cubs do have a solid all-around lineup in 2026. They have a nice mixture of power and contact throughout the order, and the addition of Bregman makes this a top offense in baseball.
ESPN recently graded the best lineups heading into the 2026 season. ESPN ranks the Cubs seventh in this category, behind only the Dodgers, Braves, Mets, Mariners, Blue Jays, and Athletics.
ESPN gave the Cubs a C grade for hitting, a C grade for patience, a C+ grade for power, a C+ grade for baserunning, an A grade for durability, and an A- grade for depth. All that makes the North Siders a collective force at the plate.
“The durability and depth grades are presented together for a reason: Scoring low on the first but high on the latter shows a team is built to withstand some injuries,” Bradford Doolittle wrote. “The Cubs, it seems, are built to deploy a stable lineup but have plenty of options if the injury bug bites.”
So, what could a Cubs lineup look like this year?
Both ESPN and MLB.com recently answered that question. Both projected Chicago’s Opening Day lineup, and both had the Cubs running out the same exact lineup to begin the year.
- Michael Busch, 1B
- Alex Bregman, 3B
- Ian Happ, LF
- Seiya Suzuki, RF
- Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF
- Nico Hoerner, 2B
- Moises Ballesteros, DH
- Dansby Swanson, SS
- Carson Kelly, C
There will likely be a slight movement at the top when a lefty is on the mound. Hoerner will move up to that leadoff spot, and Busch will move down a bit in the order. That was the case last season once Happ was demoted from the leadoff spot.
Newcomer Bregman should hit in that No. 2 spot for the Cubs all season. In all three games he has appeared in Spring Training, the third baseman has hit in that second spot. That’s where he hit most of the time with the Red Sox last year.
Overall, this is a solid lineup to roll out each game.
Busch was good in that leadoff spot against right-handed pitching last year, and the Cubs seem to like Happ in that three-hole. While the lineup will certainly switch throughout the season, this appears to be the order that the team will roll out on Opening Day.