Cincinnati Reds vs. Chicago Cubs - August 6, 2025

Photo: Redleg Nation Staff

After clinching the series win Tuesday night, the Cincinnati Reds (60-54) look to sweep the Chicago Cubs (65-48) this afternoon during a Wrigley Field matinee. First pitch is at 2:20 PM EDT. The Reds will have Andrew Abbott on the mound, while the Cubs counter with their young pitcher Cade Horton.

Lineups

Cincinnati Reds

Chicago Cubs

TJ Friedl – CF
Nico Hoerner – 2B

Spencer Steer – 1B
Justin Turner – 1B

Elly De La Cruz – SS
Seiya Suzuki – DH

Austin Hays – DH
Carson Kelly – C

Gavin Lux – 2B
Pete Crow-Armstrong – CF

Tyler Stephenson – C
Willi Castro – RF

Noelvi Marte – RF
Ian Happ – LF

Jake Fraley – LF
Dansby Swanson – SS

Ke’Bryan Hayes – 3B
Matt Shaw – 3B

Starting Pitchers

Andrew Abbott

Andrew Abbott’s last start against Atlanta wasn’t his best of the season, and it was still pretty darn good. It was a shorter outing for him due to a high pitch count–he walked five batters in 5.1 innings–but he allowed just two earned runs. He has pitched against Chicago twice already this season, allowing just one run on seven hits with 12 strikeouts over 12.2 innings.

Abbott’s splits are pretty even between left-handed hitters and right-handed hitters. He faces many more lefties, which is typical. However, even though his numbers show more hits against righties, including seven more long balls, it is a low percentage in relation to the number of times he has faced righties. Both lefties and righties have a slugging percentage below .400 against Abbott.

Splits

Split
PA
H
2B
3B
HR
BB%
K%
AVG
OBP
SLG

RHH
335
66
12
0
9
8%
22%
.215
.275
.342

LHH
107
22
4
0
2
7%
21%
.227
.286
.330

Pitch Usage

4-Seam
Change
Curve
Sweeper
Cutter

Velo
92.5
84.4
80.9
82.6
88.4

Usage
47.9%
19.8%
15.8%
12.0%
4.5%

Cade Horton

Horton was the Cubs’ first round draft pick in 2022, and this season he made his MLB debut in May. Horton had a rough time in his early starts, but recently has shown why he was selected seventh overall. In the month of July, he had a 1.52 ERA with 17 strikeouts and eight walks in four starts and 23.2 innings pitched. This sparkling July ERA was even inflated by one start, a road game against the Twins where Horton allowed four runs and didn’t make it out of the fifth inning. Horton has started August the same way he pitched in July. In his most recent start against the Orioles, he pitched a five inning shutout while allowing only two hits.

Horton has pitched much better at Wrigley Field than on the road. In 39.0 innings at home, he has a 1.85 ERA compared to a 5.19 ERA in only 34.2 innings. Opposing batters have a .797 OPS on the road against Horton compared to just a .603 OPS at home.

Splits

Split
PA
H
2B
3B
HR
BB%
K%
AVG
OBP
SLG

RHH
137
27
5
0
5
9%
19%
.225
.316
.392

LHH
170
43
6
0
2
8%
16%
.281
.335
.359

Pitch Usage

4-Seam
Sweeper
Change
Curve
2-Seam
Slider

Velo
95.7
83.8
87.8
84.0
95.2
83.9

Usage
49.7%
21.4%
13.3%
11.4%
3.7%
0.5%

Game Details:

When: 2:20 PM EDT
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Watch: FanDuel Sports Network Ohio
Listen: 700 WLW (Cincinnati area)
Forecast: 80 degrees, partly sunny, 0% chance of rain

News and Notes

Minor League Recap

See all the scores and stats for the Reds minor league teams on Tuesday, August 5th.

The Arizona Complex League is over and there are some final Statcast numbers for those players. One particular player dominated the leaderboards for the Reds.