The Cubs Schedule: A Roller Coaster
The Cubs opened the season with what many thought was an easy schedule for the first five series of the year.
They opened against the Nationals, Angels, Guardians, Rays, and Pirates. These teams don’t have World Series aspirations, but the Cubs still struggled against them.
After these games, the Cubs had a record of seven wins and eight losses.
The poor record was a product of the offense starting slow, and that would need to change soon.
After the matchups against seemingly easy opponents, the Cubs would take on a strong mix of teams in the coming weeks.
But after this stretch, the schedule lightens up. Navigating the highs and lows of this season will be key for the Cubs; they have to ride the roller coaster.
After finishing their set with the Pirates, the Cubs would endure an extremely challenging stretch of games. The Cubs have played the Phillies and the Mets, winning a series against the Phillies and sweeping the Mets. They will now take on the Phillies again, the Dodgers, Padres, Dbacks, Reds, Rangers, and Braves. At first glance, you can’t help but notice the reigning champion Dodgers. That will be a tough series as they are currently winning games at a historical pace. Some of the other teams are capable of making deep playoff runs: the Phillies, Padres, and Braves. These three clubs have the roster to make noise in the playoffs, and the Braves, especially, have started the year strong.
If those teams aren’t enough, the Dbacks, Reds, and Rangers also will look to win games against the Cubbies.
These teams are all above-average squads that will most likely give the Cubs a tough challenge. After finishing this series against the Mets today, this difficult stretch in the schedule will last until May 15th. The MLB season will run for almost two months, and the results of those games will have a significant impact on where teams finish the year. The good part of having a schedule like this is that you are bound to have a streak of playing against below-average clubs.
The next month, through June 15th, the Cubs will face the White Sox, Cardinals, Athletics, Giants, and Rockies.
If the Cubs manage to make it through the grueling part of their April and May schedule, they will be set up for success.
These teams will likely be suitable match-ups for the Cubs, given their performance thus far. There are two favorable outcomes for the Cubs with the hand they’ve been dealt. If they succeed during the difficult stretch, they will have the chance to soar over the .500 mark. The other positive outcome would be if they scuffle against the quality opponents, they will be able to gain any ground they lost against the teams they play next.
These two outcomes assume the Cubs will win the games they are supposed to against the “easier” teams. Against the Phillies and Mets, the Cubs have shown what they are capable of by winning five of six games. They have lived up to the high pre-season expectations as of late.
The encouraging part for Cubs fans is that they aren’t very healthy. To think of what they can become if they continue this kind of performance as the injuries go away.
And this season is just beginning!
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