Let's Talk About the Early Season Schedule

[Bertz]

Have you seen this thing?

https://www.mlb.com/cubs/schedule/2025/fullseason

April is ROUGH, and the first two weeks of May aren't a lot better

- The Cubs have 3 separate series against the Dodgers

- 8 of the first 14 series are against teams Pecota and Fangraphs project to make the playoffs

- 3 more of those 14 series are against teams projected over .500

- The Cubs only face two outright bad teams: the Pirates and A's, and both series are on the road.  The Pirates have an off day before our series, so you have to presume they'll line things up to give us Paul Skenes and Jared Jones

Even if this team is the goods and ends up winning 95 games, it's very possible they enter May under .500 and don't start pulling away from there until closer to Memorial Day.  That said it's not totally doom and gloom.  There are some silver linings even early in the year

- After the Cubs leave New York on 5/11, it's nearly a month before they play another good team (YMMV on the Tigers, otherwise the Phillies on 6/9)

- Because of the Japan series, the team has A TON of off days early on.  Except May 1st, every Thursday until June is an off day, with a couple Mondays sprinkled in as well

- Since the Cubs open in Arizona, they knock out a "west coast trip" without it actually being a lengthy trip

[KCCub]

First 6 against Snell - Yamamoto - Burnes - Gallen - Kelly - Pfaaddt/Rodriguez are going to be fun (Or not). 

[Bertz]

5 minutes ago, KCCub said:

First 6 against Snell - Yamamoto - Burnes - Gallen - Kelly - Pfaaddt/Rodriguez are going to be fun (Or not). 

I believe the Rangers series lines up for us to get deGrom too.  Though with him I kind of wonder if the Rangers don't ease him into the year to get him to last deeper into the season, similar to what the Dodgers are trying to do with Ohtani.

[KCCub]

They're really expecting me to be in mid-season viewing form with the first 4 being 5am, 5am, 9pm, and 9pm.

Prediction: A lot of coffee will be drank. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

7 minutes ago, KCCub said:

They're really expecting me to be in mid-season viewing form with the first 4 being 5am, 5am, 9pm, and 9pm.

Prediction: A lot of coffee will be drank. 

5:10am start time in Japan isn't terrible.  I don't remember what time it was the last time the Cubs played in Tokyo, but I remember it being much earlier than that (although I was in college, so anything would have seemed earlier when I was used to sleeping until noon).