(670 The Score) The Cubs will begin the stateside start of their 2025 regular season at 0-2 after a pair of losses to the Dodgers in Tokyo, and a new challenge now looms.
Beginning Thursday, the Cubs will square off against the Diamondbacks in four games at Chase Field. They'll then head to Sacramento for three games against the Athletics. The schedule continues with home series against the Padres and Rangers, then road series against the Dodgers and Padres before the Cubs return home to face the Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Phillies.
The Cubs' stretch in March/April is the most difficult single month by strength of schedule for any team in baseball, but it's followed by a May that happens to be the lightest strength of schedule for any team in the league.
Cubs left fielder Ian Happ is ready for the daunting first month ahead.
“We’ll be ready to go for Opening Day and excited for that challenge,” Happ told Score Middays on Tuesday. “April is going to be a tough schedule for us. We got a lot of good teams kind of stacked up early in the year. Obviously, we’re starting on the road for a week. There are challenges to that. But I think we got a really good group of guys with a lot of experience that have been through it and done a lot of different things in the game. So, we’ll be ready for that.”
The Cubs will give left-hander Justin Steele the ball against Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen on Thursday. First pitch is set for 9:10 p.m. CT. You can listen to that broadcast on 670 The Score, with pregame set to start at 8:35 p.m. CT.