Chicago Cubs @ Los Angeles Dodgers – Series Preview (April 24-26): Overview, Game and Broadcast Info, Starting Pitchers, W2W4
The Cubs (16-9) continue to roll with a four-game sweep of the Phillies at Wrigley Field and have now piled up nine consecutive victories to move into a tie for first place in the National League Central. The offense and the starting pitching have been outstanding to help protect a bullpen that has been ravaged by injuries in the early season.
Chicago now heads out to the West Coast for three with the defending champion Dodgers (17-8) at Chavez Ravine starting Friday. Dave Roberts‘ team is the World Series favorite yet again in 2026 and is off to a terrific start, tied atop the NL West with the rival Padres.
Dodgers hitters have been raking in the first month with an .828 team OPS, well ahead of the rest of baseball. Kyle Tucker was the big offseason addition following his season with the Cubs, but he has struggled out of the gate. That hasn’t been the case with outfielder Andy Pages and veteran third baseman Max Muncy, who have been red-hot coming out of the gate.
Reigning MVP Shohei Ohtani has been eerily quiet (for him) with the bat early in April, a trend that is highly unlikely to continue. The Dodgers’ unicorn has had no such problem on the mound with a 0.38 ERA in four starts. The Cubs won’t have to face him this weekend, nor will they get ace-level starters Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow.
It won’t be a cakewalk because LA still has a 3.27 team ERA that is third-best in MLB. The bullpen did suffer a blow when newly acquired closer Edwin Díaz went on the injured list and had loose bodies surgically removed from his elbow. Lefty relievers Tanner Scott and Alex Vesia have picked up the slack nicely in high-leverage situations.
The Dodgers are the 800-pound gorilla in baseball right now, and anyone who wants to win the championship will have to go through them at some point. This will be a good measuring stick to see just how well the Cubs match up with them. No matter what happens, it should be a lot of fun in Southern California this weekend.
Game Time and Broadcast Info
- Friday, April 24 at 9:15pm CT on Apple TV+.
- Saturday, April 25 at 6:15pm CT on FOX.
- Sunday, April 26 at 3:10pm CT on Marquee.
Starting Pitchers
| Date | Pitcher | Age | T | ERA | W/L | FIP | K/BB |
| 4/24 | Jameson Taillon | 34 | R | 3.97 | 1-1 | 6.05 | 2.33 |
| Emmet Sheehan | 26 | R | 5.85 | 2–0 | 5.14 | 2.25 | |
| 4/25 | Colin Rea | 35 | R | 3.00 | 3-0 | 3.31 | 4.00 |
| Roki Sasaki | 24 | R | 6.11 | 0-2 | 6.37 | 1.42 | |
| 4/26 | Shōta Imanaga | 32 | L | 2.17 | 2-1 | 2.90 | 5.33 |
| Justin Wrobleski | 25 | L | 1.88 | 3-0 | 3.02 | 1.80 |
What to Watch For
- Michael Busch had six hits and two home runs against the Phillies.
- Seiya Suzuki has homers in three consecutive games and has seven total hits in that span.
- Imanaga has allowed a grand total of three runs in his last four starts combined.
- Ian Happ is on a seven-game hitting streak.
