The first place Baby Bears come to GABP!
The last two offseasons have seen the Chicago Cubs press on the gas pedal harder than they had since rebuilding from the core that led them to their 2016 World Series title.
They sought Craig Counsell to be their manager despite him managing their division rivals in Milwaukee. Then, they swung a deal to land superstar Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros despite his time before reaching free agency dwindling, a sign they’re either going for it hard in 2025 while they have him (or are planning to throw gobs of cash his way for an extension).
(Or, both.)
The results so far in 2025 have been spot on. The Cubs sit 30-20 and in first place in the National League Central, 5.5 games ahead of the sputtering Cincinnati Reds. They’re being powered by Tucker as well as breakout star Pete Crow-Armstrong, a former 1st round pick of the New York Mets who the Cubs pried away in the deal that sent out former star Javier Baez four years ago.
They’ve even managed to take the body blow of losing ace Justin Steele to Tommy John surgery, the lefty having finished fifth in NL Cy Young Award voting in 2023 and having fired 308.0 IP of excellent 136 ERA+ ball across 2023-2024. He’ll obviously miss the remainder of the 2025 season, but Shota Imanaga has emerged as a staff leader in his own right as Chicago’s rotation evolves.
The Reds will dodge Imanaga in this upcoming series, fortunately, but they’ll get smacked immediately with another LHP in Matthew Boyd in the series opener. We’ve documented the Reds struggles against LHP often this year, so hopefully that’s something that can begin to change as early as Friday evening.
(Speaking of which, the Cubs are currently the second-best club by wOBA against LHP (.358) this season, and they’re set to face a pair of lefty starters rolled out by the Reds this series.)
Whether or not the Reds can bust out of their offensive slump and take it to their division rivals in a home series remains to be seen, though the inevitable proliferation of blue jerseys in the stands all weekend might make them hit like it’s a road game. After all, the Reds have posted just a .311 wOBA (21st) and 84 wRC+ (t-23rd) in home games so far this season.
If you’re of the opinion that the 2025 Reds are actually committed to a 162 game chance at making the postseason, well, then this series really isn’t too much more important than any other. If, however, you’re of the opinion that this spendthrift club is going to observe this club until the trade deadline and then decide if they’ll sell off any expensive pieces if they aren’t well positioned, then this series takes on a much, much bigger importance.
Reds/Cubs for the first time in 2025 coming your way!
Pitching Matchups
Friday, May 23rd (6:40 PM ET): RHP Hunter Greene vs. LHP Matthew Boyd
Saturday, May 24th (4:10 PM ET): LHP Andrew Abbott vs. RHP Colin Rea
Sunday, May 25th (1:40 PM ET): LHP Nick Lodolo vs. RHP Ben Brown
How to Watch
All three of these games will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network. You can watch FDSN in-market through cable packages, though it’s also available to be streamed in-market with no blackout restrictions even without a cable subscription. You can check the link in the above sidebar (which I’ve re-linked right here) for more information on how you can do just that.
Per usual, you can view these games from outside the Reds TV market by catching the FDSN stream through MLB.tv.