Why the Cubs Will Be Facing the Dodgers at the Perfect Time

Its been quite a week for the Chicago Cubs, as they have propelled themselves from dead last in the NL Central to a mere half-game behind the Cincinnati Reds, on an eight-game winning streak, after dismantling both the Phillies and the Mets.

The Cubs are finishing up a seven-game homestand at Wrigley before traveling across the country to take on the reigning world champs in the belly of the beast that is Dodger Stadium; the Dodgers have only lost three games on their home field this year.

While that stat line can be intimidating, it is quite easy to say that Chicago has the upper hand going into this series for a number of reasons.

Cubs will avoid LA's best pitchers

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

While Los Angeles hasn't officially announced who the Cubs will be up against quite yet, Chicago are unlikely to face Shohei Ohtani or Tyler Glasnow, as both were used at the tail end of the current series.

The only possible top arm the Dodgers have who could potentially throw a pitch vs Chicago is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who last threw on April 21. However, while anything can happen, the odds are low that he will throw in this series.

These three are the best the Dodgers have and among the most elite in baseball right now. Ohtani has a sub-0.50 ERA on the year, while Yamamoto sits at 2.48, with Glasnow trailing at 3.24 going into his expected outing in game 3 against the Giants.

Cubs' bats have gotten hot

It was a sluggish start for the offense, unless your name was Nico Hoerner. However, in the last week, Moises Ballesteros is leading the charge with a .455 batting average, with the others hitting .300 or better, including Hoerner, Seiya Suzuki, and Ian Happ.

Michael Busch started the year hitting under .200, but he is finally starting to find his swing, hitting .292 with a homer and three RBI.

As a unit, the last 10 games have been excellent. The team has scored fewer than 5 runs on only 2 occasions, while scoring 7+ runs 70% of the time.

Elite Cubs pitching

Shota Imanaga | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

It has been impossible to wrap the brain around the number of injuries that the Cubs are dealing with, primarily with the pitching staff. But they are holding as steady as ever despite a bleeding roster.

In the last week, the bullpen has four pitchers who haven't allowed a single run: Hoby Milner, Ben Brown, Caleb Thielbar, and Corbin Martin. The starting rotation has been equally great, with Colin Rea, Jameson Taillon, and Shota Imanaga set to pitch this series.

Shota Imanaga has been particularly impressive, having turned things around in 2026 to look like he did in 2024, when he ranked fifth in NL Cy Young Award voting as a rookie.

It isn't often that a team has a clear path to taking down the Dodgers, but the Cubs are firing on all cylinders amid their winning streak. With the way the team is playing now, they can take this series.

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