Chicago Cubs Lineup (2/27/26): Mostly Regulars, Cabrera Starting Home Game with No Broadcast

I’m old enough to remember when nearly every Cubs spring training game was broadcast on TV and/or radio. I’m also old enough to remember when very few of them were. The weird part is that the oasis of a heavy broadcast schedule fell between coverage deserts like the one in which we find ourselves. Cade Horton‘s first appearance? Nope. Jaxon Wiggins? Also no, though one could argue it was best we didn’t see or hear it.

Now we arrive at Friday and Edward Cabrera‘s first appearance in a Cubs uniform. Neither Marquee nor 104.3 The Score will be at Sloan Park for this one, nor will there be any sort of coverage from the Guardians. This would have made for some great CI content back in 2017-19. Longtime patrons may remember when we first got this thing spun up in its current iteration, which was when Jon Ferlise and I joined forces.

A Phoenix resident, Jon was able to go to most home games and capture live video to share via socials and posts on the site. Those things did crazy numbers and were sometimes reused by WGN and other Chicago outlets because there was no other visual evidence of what happened at the games. The advent of Marquee effectively put the kibosh on our cottage industry for a few years, but it looks like a window has opened again.

For as much as I’ve been bitching about the drastic reduction in coverage from Marquee and The Score, I must say that it’s little more than an inconvenience. I’ve found myself forgetting about some games entirely, only to check the score in the evening. While I’d still prefer to have access, even if it’s just to have the games on as background noise, these early contests can get dull very quickly.

That doesn’t figure to be the case with Cabrera on the bump, if for no other reason than hype. People want to see if his stuff is really as good as advertised, and I’m sure there are some quietly hoping for him to fail so the Cubs look dumb for trading Owen Caissie. Whatever your motivation, this Friday afternoon game in Mesa would have made for good programming.

It’s not just Cabrera, either. Today’s lineup is the best we’ve seen today, with Nico Hoerner at second, Alex Bregman at third, and Ian Happ in left. Dansby Swanson takes short, Michael Busch is at first, Matt Shaw is in right, and Pete Crow-Armstrong patrols center. Miguel Amaya is the catcher and Dylan Carson serves as the DH.

I’m pretty sure today’s Guardians starter has never eaten glass or hired hookers to tire out opponents, and I’ll bet he didn’t drink so many beers that he forgot being drafted. Logan “L.T.” Allen is not nearly as exciting as the best defensive player in video game history and his rosin bag isn’t filled with booger sugar, but the 27-year-old southpaw will be on the bump today.

He tossed two scoreless innings of one-hit ball his first time out, but hasn’t shown much over parts of three MLB seasons to warrant any hype. A throwback crafty lefty with a low-90s fastball and secondaries built to get outs via contact, the 6-foot, 190-pound Allen is not intimidating in any way. He can, however, be effective when he’s hitting his spots.

There’s reason to believe Allen will be helped by ABS, as he loves to nibble at the edges of the zone. Then again, he doesn’t fill up the corners that present the most favorable shift in favor of pitchers. Check your Gameday app for any challenges that may come up in today’s contest.

First pitch from Sloan Park is at 2:05pm CT.

Lining up. ?‍ pic.twitter.com/TLd7MfDkxF

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) February 27, 2026

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