2025 Cubs Season Preview

In Commentary And Analysis by Rice Cube126 Comments

We sort of teased this in the last Dreamcast, but there’s still a couple weeks until the Cubs play in Tokyo, and maybe we should at least look at the schedule as it is now, pending rainouts, rescheduling, and other strange happenings. As it stands now, the Cubs will play their 162 games just like everyone else, and the PECOTA standings have been updated. There are other projection systems of course, but PECOTA really likes the Cubs and we’re already biased.

MARCH

  • Tokyo Series — March 18 to 19; I would expect a split here, we obviously don’t want the Cubs to be swept, but doing the sweeping themselves would be pretty difficult no matter who the team after the long flight and the shock to their biological clocks.
  • There are a few extra games in Cactus League that I imagine will be heavily prospect-laden to let the guys coming back ease back in and also rest a bit before…
  • March 27-30 — Cubs open the season as guests in Arizona (so they don’t have to fly out or anything just yet) for the Diamondbacks home opening series. Dbacks have a tendency to be pesky so who knows how this will go either. I know, not very committal of me. Let’s say the Cubs win this series 3-1, a four-game sweep is just super tough.

March record: 5-2 (includes that one win against the A’s, see below)

APRIL

We did note that the Cubs don’t play on Thursday anytime this month, pending rainouts and what not. That could help them set up the pitching staff to weather a pretty tough schedule.

  • From March 31 through April 2 — Cubs travel to Sacramento to face the new look Athletics who got kicked out of Oakland. A’s did some buying to not piss off MLBPA, so they could be competitive. Cubs win this series 2-1 IMO. We’ll throw one of those wins back into March and the other one here, hehe.
  • April 4-6 — Home opener against the Padres. While the Padres had cash flow problems and didn’t really upgrade, who they did keep around remain quite good at baseball. This might be a tough one, I think the Cubs may be a bit rough from the travel despite the off day before the first game and drop this series 1-2.
  • April 7-9 — Against the Rangers, who may not be that good two seasons removed from their World Series championship, so the Cubs may win this series 2-1.
  • April 11-13 — Heading back West again (who does this scheduling?) to face the Dodgers (again), the Cubs probably drop this one 1-2.
  • April 14-16 — Still out West, facing the Padres for the final time in the regular season. Cubs may try to even out the road trip and win this 2-1.
  • April 18-20 — Back home to face the Diamondbacks, and they’re done with Arizona for the regular season as well. Cubs should win 2-1.
  • April 22-23 — Random two-game series against the Dodgers and they’re done with these guys too. Getting the NL West mostly out of the way and April isn’t even over. I think the Cubs split this one too.
  • April 25-27 — First meeting against the Phillies, tough to figure out how they’ll do with a roster that’s aging quickly, but I’m feeling optimistic so Cubs win 2-1.
  • April 29 to May 1 — In Pittsburgh against the Pirates, and their first Thursday game in a month. Pirates have a pretty darn good rotation but it isn’t controversial to say the Cubs have a better lineup, I think Cubs win this 2-1.

April record: 14-10 (we’ll throw the getaway day loss into May)

MAY

After the first of the month, no scheduled Thursday games this month either. Good for rest and routine! And also they get a long run against some questionable teams.

  • May 2 to 4 — First meeting against the Brewers in Milwaukee, and hopefully the Cubs don’t look past any of their division competition. I still say Cubs win 2-1.
  • May 5 to 7 — At home against the new-look Giants under Buster Posey, I say the Cubs win this one too, 2-1.
  • May 9 to 11 — In New York to face the Mets, tough venue so I think the Cubs might lose this one 1-2.
  • May 12 to 14 — Back home against the Marlins, and while they might suck it would be a tad too ambitious to call a sweep, so let’s call this 2-1.
  • May 16 to 18 — Still at home against the White Sox, who should be better than last year just from sheer probability, call this 2-1 but I wouldn’t be surprised with a sweep.
  • May 19 to 21 — In Miami for the Marlins, and they’re done with the fish for the year…Cubs should win 2-1.
  • May 23 to 25 — In Cincinnati for their first run against the Reds, who are annoying but the Cubs should win this one too, 2-1.
  • May 26 to 28 — Back home against the Rockies, let’s say they win this one 2-1.
  • May 30 to June 1 — Again at home against the visiting Reds, I’d like the Cubs to win this one 2-1 as well.

May record: 16-11 (bagged the loss from the Pirates finale, bumped another loss to June)

JUNE

June seems to start off easy-ish and then gradually gets a bit tougher as the Cubs go up against playoff hopefuls.

  • June 3 to 5: In DC against the Nationals, should be able to win this 2-1 though the Nats have some up-and-comers.
  • June 6 to 8: In Detroit against the Tigers for what I believe is their only interleague matchup here, depending on who pitches I think the Cubs might drop this one 1-2.
  • June 9 to 11: In Philadelphia for their final set against the Phillies in the regular season, probably drop this one too 1-2. Road games are hard.
  • June 12 to 15: Home series against the Pirates, I’d probably pencil in a split here.
  • June 17 to 19: Still at home against the Brewers, would be happy with a 2-1 series win.
  • June 20 to 22: The Mariners come to town for the interleague matchup. I’m feeling hopeful, Cubs win 2-1.
  • June 23 to 26: In St. Louis for the first meeting this season against the Cardinals. Probably a split.
  • June 27 to 29: In Houston for their interleague set against the Astros, I say the Cubs win this 2-1 because they took some good players away from Houston.

June record: 14-13 (includes the loss from the finale against the Reds at the beginning of the month)

JULY

July of course has the All-Star Game (go National League) and the trade deadline (July 31 is on a Thursday, a day the Cubs don’t play, but this is the most likely date although MLB hasn’t announced it yet). The Cubs play this month plus the rest of MLB, naturally, will determine how August and beyond will look. I choose to think the Cubs will be awesome and everyone sells off, but we’ll see.

  • July 1 to 3: At home against Cleveland, for their obligatory interleague set against the Guardians. Let’s hope the Cubs win, 2-1.
  • July 4 to 6: Still at home against the Cardinals, hoping again for a good series to bridge the Fourth of July, Cubs win 2-1.
  • July 8 to 10: Interleague against the Twins in Minnesota, who knows what will happen with the Twins basically doing nothing amidst their ownership issues. Let’s say Cubs win this one 2-1.
  • July 11 to 13: In New York again, this time against the Yankees. Cubs probably drop this one 1-2.
  • July 18 to 20: At home against the Red Sox, here’s to good news coming out of the break, Cubs win 2-1.
  • July 21 to 23: At home against the Royals, who barely did anything after making the playoffs last year. Cubs probably win this one 2-1.
  • July 25 to 27: Down South against the White Sox, interesting that the in-city rivals play six instead of four this season. Let’s say the Cubs also win 2-1 to retain the Crosstown Cup.
  • July 28 to 30: In Milwaukee against the Brewers again, hopefully to tell them to sell, Cubs win 2-1.

July record: 15-9

AUGUST

The trade deadline should have passed at some point in the first weekend of August, going to assume that certain teams sold off per their PECOTAs and others are a bit stronger.

  • August 1 to 3: At home against the Orioles, who are still a contender in the AL East but who knows where they’re at here. I think I’d play it safe and say the Cubs drop this 1-2 even though they wrecked the O’s last season.
  • August 4 to 6: Reds probably sold, Cubs take another home series 2-1.
  • August 8 to 10: In St. Louis against the Cardinals, who probably also sold, Cubs win 2-1.
  • August 12 to 14: In Canada to face the Blue Jays, who are on the bubble even today, that’s a bit of a trip after another road series so they probably drop this 1-2.
  • August 15 to 17: At home against the Pirates, let’s go Cubs 2-1.
  • August 18 to 21: This is the final home series against the Brewers, and their last matchup of the year If the Cubs did their job the rest of the year, and the Brewers took a step back and couldn’t find devil magic, this should be a 3-1 series win against a depleted Milwaukee club.
  • August 22 to 24: In Anaheim-of-LA to face the Angels and former Cubs legend Kyle Hendricks (maybe, depends on how they lined up their rotation and if he’s even still on the team), I think the Cubs win this one 2-1.
  • August 26 to 28: In San Francisco for a series I normally would have gone to except I moved, the Cubs might drop this one 1-2.
  • August 29 to 31: In Denver to face the Rockies, and because Coors is dumb, this might be another drop, 1-2.

August record: 15-13

SEPTEMBER

Last month of the regular season! Some tough matchups here for the home stretch.

  • September 1 to 3: At home against Atlanta, this might be tough so let’s say Cubs drop this one 1-2.
  • September 5 to 7: Finishing up their home stand against the Nationals, Cubs win 2-1.
  • September 8 to 10: Bleah, in Atlanta now. Cubs probably drop this series 1-2.
  • September 12 to 14: At home against the Rays, who may have sold, who knows, but Cubs should win 2-1.
  • September 15 to 17: In Pittsburgh for the last series against the Pirates, let’s say Cubs win 2-1.
  • September 18 to 21: In Cincinnati for the last series against the Reds, Cubs should pull this one out 3-1.
  • September 23 to 25: At home against the Mets, let’s say Cubs win this 2-1.
  • September 26 to 28: Last series of the year, this time against the Cardinals at home, Cubs should win 2-1.

September record: 15-10

There may be a few sweeps here or there one way or the other, probably some sustained winning streaks beyond what I predicted, but the goal here was to make sure that the Cubs win more than they lose every month to avoid those prolonged swoons that doomed them in 2023 and 2024. This also presumes they will stay in most series against the “good” teams and do what they need to against the “bad” teams.

Overall record in 2025: 94-68

We can be happy with that, right?

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Comments

  12. Author
    Rice Cube

    Could be fun and hilarious

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  19. berselius

    If you haven’t come across it already, Sahadev (yay) and Mooney (eh) are back on the digital airwaves with a podcast called Northside Territory.

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  32. Perkins

    Really illustrates how much turnover the Cubs have had at 3B.

    Daily Walkoff ⚾️
    Cubs #182

    “Modern Mainstays”
    🟢🟢🟢🟢🚀

    dailywalkoff.com

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  43. andcounting

    Rice Cube:
    No video (at least MLB dot com doesn’t suggest it is available) for today but it is on the radio so there’s that

    But it was Zach Zaidman, sounding like he was dripping snot on the microphone with every syllable.

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  56. Author
    Rice Cube

    berselius,

    Alcantara is probably up only if PCA gets hurt…the backup CF is probably Brujan but them trying out Seiya is either just for yuks or to see if he can hack it so they can carry Workman instead of Brujan

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  59. berselius

    Rice Cube,

    I’d rather he fuck right off with this, but it will be funny if they actually go through with this reinstatement and he gets like 7% of the hof vote. Dude is a piece of shit from multiple angles.

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  92. Author
    Rice Cube

    Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way

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  102. berselius

    berselius,

    I guess slight downgrade in my grade since it’s a bit of a Kyle Tucker situation as he has one season left under contract. But signing a guy to an extension is much less of a question mark in the NFL.

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  119. berselius

    Love u PCA but maybe save the “score from second on a wild pitch” play for the regular season (dying laughing)

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  122. Author
    Rice Cube

    Via the Blue Sky

    Cubs moves today:

    • RHP Ethan Roberts, LHP Luke Little optioned to Triple-A Iowa

    • RHP Ben Heller, RHP Trevor Richards, RHP Brooks Kriske, RHP Phil Bickford, RHP Chris Flexen, OF Greg Allen, INF James Triantos, 1B Jonathon Long, OF Christian Franklin all returned to Minor League camp

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