Shohei Ohtani is, for the time being, not pitching and will serve only as the Dodgers DH.
That means the Cubs remain the only team Ohtani has never pitched against. (He also hasn’t faced the Brewers in a regular-season game, but he did have that memorable game against them in the NLCS last year.)
And, of course, the big news surrounding the Dodgers is the acquisition of Tarik Skubal, and his first Dodgers start will be in this series.
For more on the Dodgers and Skubal, once again I welcome Molly Knight
to BCB. As you probably remember, Molly and I randomly ran into each other last year in Tokyo, which she wrote about at her Substack newsletter The Long Game. We’ve become good friends, and I’d like to strongly encourage all of you to sign up for The Long Game, a fantastic community of baseball fans. Here’s Molly on the Dodgers.
Al has asked me to write a Dodgers preview here the morning of the trade deadline, and I will proceed as if they are done making major moves, and are not on the verge of, say, trading for Elly De La Cruz or CJ Abrams. (I don’t think this will happen but one can never be sure!)
The big headline for LA’s series vs. the Cubs, of course, is that Tarik Skubal will make his Dodger debut on Tuesday at Wrigley. I have no idea how to process this news except that it’s great for the Dodgers and very bad for everyone else — especially Milwaukee, as they could have and should have landed the superstar lefty instead.
It’s funny that everyone is talking about how unfairly good the Dodgers are right now, as they are coming off their worst series of the year where they played sloppy and got wrecked by the Red Sox. The Dodgers tend to run the bases and defend well, and they did neither against Boston this weekend. I don’t know if they were distracted by the trade deadline or simply took a dirt nap because they have a 10-game lead in the division, but they did not look like themselves.
Part of this identity change is that Shohei Ohtani is currently playing baseball on one leg, unable to pitch or zoom around the bases like he usually does. He’s still bashing the ball, but he needs to go on the injured list because his knee is not improving and the Dodgers really only play for October.
Freddie Freeman has also been whacking the ball, but Mookie Betts has not been the same since he got sick last spring in Tokyo.
Kyle Tucker has shown signs of life over the past week, but he still only has an OPS of .703 despite being paid a record $60 million this season. (I’m guessing a few Cubs fans saw this coming, but it must still feel good nonetheless).
Edwin Diaz returned last week after missing most of the season due to loose bodies in his elbow, and I’ll be watching to see how well he does in leverage on the road. Tommy Edman and Enrique Hernandez are also both finally healthy, and figure to loom large against the Cubs this week as they will be in the lineup vs. lefties Matthew Boyd and Shōta Imanaga.
I suppose the biggest questions I have are not about the Dodgers but about the Cubs. How much better will they be tomorrow than they are today? They figure to be one of the teams the Dodgers will need to beat in October, so what moves will they make in the next few hours to put them in a better position to do that?
Kevin Gausman pitched quite well against LA during the World Series last season, even though the Jays lost both his starts (he was matched up against Yamamoto, unfortunately for him). I know Cubs fans are probably eager to see him against the best teams in the league, but it’s probably better LA hitters aren’t getting another live look at him this week before October.
I’m also looking forward to seeing how extra motivated PCA is against the Dodgers, and if Dalton Rushing can keep his intrusive thoughts to himself.
It should be a fun series!
Fun facts
The Cubs and Dodgers have played 2,150 games since the rivalry began in 1890. The Dodgers lead in wins by only 18, 1,077 to 1,059. They have outscored the Cubs by just 24 runs, 9,225-9,201.
The Cubs are 570-505-8 at home vs. the Dodgers. They won the two games played at Wrigley Field last season but lost two at Tokyo, where the Cubs were officially the home team.
They last swept the Dodgers in three games in 2021. The next year, they lost all three. They went 1-3 in 2023 and 2-1 in 2024.
(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Probable pitching matchups
Monday: Matthew Boyd, LHP (6-1, 3.41 ERA, 1.197 WHIP, 3.55 FIP) vs. Justin Wrobleski, LHP (11-2, 2.88 ERA, 1.021 WHIP, 3.60 FIP)
Tuesday: Javier Assad, RHP (6-1, 3.75 ERA, 1.163 WHIP, 4.82 FIP) vs. Tarik Skubal, LHP (7-5, 2.79 ERA, 0.910 WHIP, 2.60 FIP)
Wednesday: Shōta Imanaga, LHP (7-9, 3.67 ERA, 1.073 WHIP, 4.43 FIP) vs. Roki Sasaki, RHP (5-5, 4.64 ERA, 1.303 WHIP, 5.02 FIP)
Times & TV channels
Monday: 7:05 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Tuesday: 7:05 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, TBS (outside the Cubs and Dodgers market territories)
Wednesday: 1:20 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Dodgers market territories)
Prediction
Well, the Dodgers are now a juggernaut and they won’t lose another game like ever.
Of course, that’s silly. The Cubs have their two best current starters going in this series (Boyd and Imanaga) and both have been really good lately. Dodgers pitching hasn’t been great since the All-Star break and they just got swept — at home! — by the Red Sox. Since the All-Star break the Cubs are 9-7 but have outscored opponents 86-49 (and the 49 runs are the fewest allowed by any team since the ASB). The Dodgers are 8-7 and have scored 66 runs in those 15 games to their opponents’ 65.
I think the Cubs steal this series and win two of three.
Up next
The Cubs will host the Blue Jays Thursday afternoon in a makeup game for the rainout on June 21. After that they’ll travel to Kansas City to face the Royals in a three-game series beginning Monday evening.
(A note that the poll below includes the make-up game against Toronto — vote here if you haven’t already.)
