Chicago Cubs news and notes — Imanaga, Mlodzinski, Reynolds

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Bruce Levine reports that Matthew Boyd will make a rehab start this coming week. More when we know more. We’ll see if Dylan Carlson makes it back to Triple-A.


Shōta Imanaga on the hill versus Carmen Mlodzinski. Let’s hope Mike Imanaga takes the day off. Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ were in the lineup, which was nicely balanced at the outset:

1. Nico Hoerner, 2B
2. Michael Busch, 1B
3. Alex Bregman, 3B
4. Ian Happ, LF
5. Seiya Suzuki, RF
6. Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF
7. Carson Kelly, C
8. Moisés Ballesteros, DH
9. Dansby Swanson, SS

Game Result:

Pirates 2, Cubs 0.

Shōta pitched well. He allowed the Pirates a big fat zero in 6.0 innings of work. Longtime Cubs nemesis Bryan Reynolds took Caleb Thielbar deep for a two-run homer in the sixth inning. That was it for scoring on this day.

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• Kyle Williams (Chicago Sun-Times {$}): Cade Horton’s Cubs teammates detail their experiences rehabbing after major elbow surgeries. “Jameson Taillon and Hunter Harvey were first-round draft picks who had to deal with elbow injuries early in their career.”
• Kin Leung (North Side Baseball): The five stages of relief. “… let’s run through these stages…”
• Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball): Can Miguel Amaya be an effective hitter if his bat speed never rebounds? “… Amaya had plus bat speed in 2023, 2024 and 2025. So far in 2026, he’s below-average in that regard. Can he overcome that problem?”
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Nico Hoerner has always wanted to find more power. Has he finally done it? “I’m not going into at-bats trying to hit home runs, but I do want to get pitches I can drive.” More from Bleacher Nation. More from the Sun-Times {$}.
• Max Ralph (MLB.com): Seiya back with Cubs for his ’26 debut, reinstated from IL. “His 103 RBIs led the Cubs last year…“
• Shelby Kluver (WQAD): ‘Bleed Cubbie blue’ | Cubs fans tie the knot on opening day at Galesburg Cubs bar. “ For Chris McKillip and Nancy Reed, the start of baseball season doubled as the start of their marriage.”

Food For Thought:


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