Cubs Week In Review: Opening Weekend Ends With A Dud

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As scores of revelers lined the streets of Wrigleyville in celebration of the arrival of another highly anticipated Chicago Cubs Opening Day, members of the team showed up at the player arrival entry on Waveland Avenue, prepared to go to work. Now, you're right to point out that even the most beloved individuals on this squad, such as Ian Happ and Pete Crow-Armstrong, don't technically "go to work"; they play a game. But, if the club is to reach some of its loftier goals for the year, they're going to have to treat the game like the most important job they've ever had.

This squad, when healthy, aims to be one of the most fearsome in the majors. Notably, they are not healthy at the moment; though he'll be starting his rehab assignment soon, slugging outfielder Seiya Suzuki is still nursing his knee injury suffered in the World Baseball Classic. With the type of depth this club has, one would think that'd be enough to thwart Blake Butera's Nationals squad, especially with 2025 All-Star Matthew Boyd toeing the rubber, but it was not. The North Siders scattered eight hits and scraped only four runs across the plate. The Nats used a six-run fourth inning to take control of a contest that featured all kinds of hard contact. 

Cade Horton, one of the top-three leading vote getters in the 2025 Rookie of the Year race, looked the part of a Cy Young in his first start of the campaign against Washington. Horton heard deafening cheers through the first few innings, using an electric mix of his four-seam fastball and changeup to keep Nats hitters off balance. He surrendered just four hits in his 6.1 innings of work. While Horton impressed, the Cubs' offense came to life, once again jumping all over starter Miles Mikolas. Crow-Armstrong and Nico Hoerner combined for three stolen bases, and the action was punctuated by homers from Ian Happ and Miguel Amaya, who continues his surprising ascent from last season. 

In the series' finales versus Washington, the Chicago Cubs collected four total hits, two of which were Alex Bregman's first and second home runs in the home pinstripes. Stop me if you've heard this one before, but after striking out the first two batters of the ball game, starter Shota Imanaga couldn't get out of the first inning, giving up a three-run blast to known Cub killer Joey Wiemer. Given both what Imanaga once was and due to the nature of his contract for this year, which will earn him $20 million, the North Siders must figure out a way to get Imanaga back to something resembling All-Star form.

Up next, Craig Counsell's squad welcomes another mid-tier club, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, into the Friendly Confines for a three-game set. All eyes will be on the opening contest of this series as it will feature Edward Cabrera's first start in a Cub uniform. He has the opportunity to not only use his introduction as a means of proving the front office right for signing him, but most importantly, get his squad a tally in the win column. 

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