Thursday notes…
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ON OPENING DAY: Since 1876, the first year of the National League, the Cubs have opened the season against 28 different teams. This will be their second against the Nationals. They lost to them at home, 2-1, on April 5, 2012. When the Nationals were the Montreal Expos, the Cubs were 1-2 against them in openers, winning in 1973 and losing in 1983 and 2001. All games were at Wrigley Field. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
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IN MARCH: The Cubs are 10-13 in games played in March. Their first such game was in 1998. They played two in 2000, then one each in 2003, 2008 and 2014. Starting in 2018, they have played 17: three in 2018 and 2019, one in 2023, three in 2024 and seven last year. The Cubs have been the home team for only five of the 23 games, and three of those were in Tokyo, against the Mets in 2000 and against the Dodgers last year. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
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IN MARCH AT WRIGLEY FIELD: The team’s only two previous games in March at Wrigley Field were against the Brewers. On March 31, 2008, Kosuke Fukudome, in his first game, hit a home run with two men on base and nobody out in the ninth inning to tie the score at 3. Craig Counsell doubled leading off the Brewers’ 10th and scored on a bunt, hit by pitch and sacrifice fly. The Cubs went down in order and lost, 4-3. On March 30, 2023, the Cubs won, 4-0, as Marcus Stroman and three relievers combined to allow four hits, walk five and strike out 12. The Cubs scored all their runs in the third inning on three singles, two walks and an error. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
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LAST YEAR’S HOME OPENER: In 2025, the Cubs had played nine games before they opened at Wrigley Field, including two “home” games in the Tokyo Dome. They had a 5-4 record when they faced the Padres on April 4, 2025. The Cubs won the game 3-1, getting 7.1 strong innings from Shōta Imanaga.
Cubs lineup:
Nationals lineup:
Matthew Boyd, LHP vs. Cade Cavalli, RHP
Matthew Boyd had an excellent 2025, making the NL All-Star team, though he did run out of gas late in the season.
After being hit hard in Game 1 of the division series against the Brewers, he recovered to have an outstanding outing in Game 4.
Against the Nationals last year, Boyd made two starts, allowing 11 hits, one walk and four runs in 14.2 innings (2.45 ERA).
Boyd was particularly effective at Wrigley Field last year, posting a 2.51 ERA and 0.903 WHIP in 15 starts at home. The Cubs went 13-2 in those 15 games.
This will be his third Opening Day start (also 2020 and 2021 with the Tigers).
Cade Cavalli was the Nats’ first round pick in 2020 (22nd overall), taken six picks after the Cubs took Ed Howard and three picks after Pete Crow-Armstrong went to the Mets.
He was a Top 100 prospect three years in a row (2021-23), then missed the entire 2023 season with Tommy John surgery. He made 10 starts for the Nats last year and the results were okay: 4.25 ERA, 1.479 WHIP. He has never faced the Cubs or anyone on the Cubs’ active roster.
Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.
Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.
MLB.com Gameday
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Nationals site Federal Baseball. If you do go there to interact with Nationals fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.
You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).
At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.
The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.
You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.
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