On The Horizon: Cubs vs. Nationals series preview

Well, here we are at the earliest-ever home opener for the Cubs. You already know how I feel about March baseball in Chicago (they generally shouldn’t, ever). And the forecast for the opener Thursday has temps falling from an early high of near 60 into the 40s. There’s a chance of rain that hopefull

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What is the story about?

Well, here we are at the earliest-ever home opener for the Cubs. You already know how I feel about March baseball in Chicago (they generally shouldn’t, ever). And the forecast for the opener Thursday has temps falling from an early high of near 60 into the 40s. There’s a chance of rain that hopefully will hold off until the game is over.

For more on the Nationals, here’s Sam Sallick, manager of our SB Nation Nationals site Federal Baseball.

There is a lot of “new” for the Washington Nationals this

year. They have a new front office, a new manager and a brand new coaching staff. It is a lot of change for an organization that had the same GM/manager combo for nearly a decade before this.

Paul Toboni and Blake Butera want to modernize the Nationals process. They have also provided an infusion of youth. Toboni is just 35 and Butera is the youngest manager in the league at just 33. The roster is also very young, especially on the position player side of things.

The Nats star players at the plate are James Wood and CJ Abrams. Wood had a tough spring after tailing off in the second half last year. However, he has some of the most impressive raw power in the game. Abrams saw his name in trade rumors, but unlike fellow Juan Soto trade piece MacKenzie Gore, he stayed in DC.

Speaking of Gore, the Nats pitching staff has looked very solid this spring. They are short on big names, but they’ve been throwing the ball well. Opening Day starter Cade Cavalli has been throwing the ball as well as anyone. He threw 14 scoreless innings this spring, which helped get him the Opening Day nod despite just 11 career starts.

Cavalli has an impressive arsenal. His mid to upper 90’s fastball and his power curve provide a strong foundation. However, he added a sweeper to give him a better weapon against right handed hitters, who he struggled against last year. I am bullish on Cavalli and think this will be a breakout year for him.

Behind him, the Nats actually have a few veterans in the rotation. Cubs fans know Miles Mikolas very well, and he is in DC now. They also picked up Zack Littell and Foster Griffin. I am intrigued by Griffin, who dominated in Japan the last few years before coming back to the States this offseason.

The Nats probably won’t be good, but hopefully they are better to watch this season. This new regime is rebuilding the rebuild in a lot of ways. However, I trust these new guys to get it right eventually.

Fun facts

The Cubs have a .486 winning percentage against the Nationals franchise since it began play in 1969 as the Montreal Expos. But they are .519 (69-64) since the team moved to Washington after 2004.

They are .526 overall at home vs. the Expos/Nationals, including .523 since 2005.

From 2021-24, the Cubs were 9-4 when hosting the Nationals. Last year, they won the series opener, then lost the next two games.

(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)

Probable pitching matchups

(2025 records in parentheses)

Thursday: Matthew Boyd, LHP (14-8, 3.21 ERA, 1.091 WHIP, 3.65 FIP) vs. Cade Cavalli, RHP (3-1, 4.25 ERA, 1.479 WHIP, 4.53 FIP)

Saturday: Cade Horton, RHP (11-4, 2.67 ERA, 1.085 WHIP, 3.58 FIP) vs. Miles Mikolas, RHP (8-11, 4.84 ERA, 1.318 WHIP, 5.08 FIP)

Sunday: Shōta Imanaga, LHP (9-8, 3.73 ERA, 0.988 WHIP, 4.86 FIP) vs. Jake Irvin, RHP (9-13, 5.70 ERA, 1.428 WHIP, 5.64 FIP)

NOTE: The Cubs do not have starters officially listed for Saturday or Sunday as of the time of this post. Horton and Imanaga are listed here because that’s the order they last pitched in Spring Training games after Boyd. The Cubs are one of only three teams (also Angels and Rockies) that don’t have a starter listed for Saturday. Those three and the Braves are the only teams that don’t have a starter listed for Sunday.