Diving Into the Chicago Cubs' Success in Home Series Openers

[Andrew Wright]

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Being over a month into the season without losing a series opener at home is quite the accomplishment. There are so many things that go into winning a baseball game, and to do that in the opening game of a series in front of your home crowd 100% of the time is utterly impressive. That is exactly what the Chicago Cubs have done, and it is a big reason why they have the biggest division lead in baseball, at 3 games.

Obviously, that isn't going to last all season. The Cubs are eventually going to drop a series opener at home. As of now, though, it hasn't happened, and there are several different reasons why. There's been a little bit of luck involved in it, but there's also been a bit of skill. Let's dive into what's been going right for Chicago in these particular games.

To start things off, the Cubs' run total in their six series-opening home games are as follows: 3, 7, 13, 11, 4 and 9. That comes out to an average of 7.8 runs per game, well over their already league-leading season average of 5.9. Outperforming themselves in a category that they already lead the league in is 100% a recipe for success. When analyzing it from that perspective, it's easy to see why Chicago has a 6-0 record in those series openers at home.

One of the impressive elements of doing this is surviving the rigors of the baseball life, on its strange and demanding weekly cycle. The Cubs have won at home to open series on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Take a look at this awesome post on X, from @DailyRandomCub

With a record like Chicago has on days that almost all series begin, it's no surprise that they've had so much success in series openers. The pitchers on the mound for the series-opening wins at home have also been indicative of how the season has gone for the Cubs.

The six winning pitchers for the games have been Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, Ryan Pressly, Porter Hodge, Colin Rea and Matthew Boyd. That is, arguably, the four best pitchers in the starting rotation (even though two are injured) and two of the best arms in the Cubs bullpen. Not only has the lineup produced, but the starting rotation has lined up in a way that Chicago can send out some of its best arms to get that first win of the series.

The Cubs will have a chance to improve their home series-opening record to 7-0 four days from now, on May 12, when they welcome the Miami Marlins for a three-game series. If they want to be serious contenders in the NL, they have to beat up on bad teams like Miami. Look for Chicago to come back home from a quick three-game road trip against the New York Mets and hang a nice, crooked number on the Marlins—and remain undefeated at home in series openers.

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[We Got The Whole 9]

Frustrating as hell that they convincingly took the opener against PHI and SF and lost both series

[Andrew Wright]

5 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Frustrating as hell that they convincingly took the opener against PHI and SF and lost both series

Completely agree. Gotta be able to win one of those series after taking the opener!