Chicago Cubs vs San Francisco Giants – Series Preview (May 5-7): Overview, Game and Broadcast Info, Starting Pitchers, W2W4
The Cubs (21-14) finished another successful road trip, going 4-2 against the division-rival Pirates and Brewers. The lineup continued to put up big run totals and hit a lot of homers, with Pete Crow-Armstrong blasting four of them in the last five games.
It wasn’t all good news for Chicago, however, as ace Shōta Imanaga suffered a left hamstring strain Sunday in Milwaukee that will cause him to miss some time and further test the pitching depth. Craig Counsell‘s squad has one more difficult week of the schedule to get through, beginning with a three-game set at Wrigley against the Giants that opens Monday.
San Francisco (22-13) is off to a tremendous start in a very crowded NL West after a forgettable 2024 season. The strong suit of Bob Melvin‘s team is pitching, with a 3.44 staff ERA that is the sixth best in baseball. Logan Webb is their best starter, but the Cubs will not see him in this series. They will get to face the ageless Justin Verlander, who is still going strong in his age-42 season.
The Giants’ bullpen has been nails so far, posting a 2.50 ERA that is second in MLB through the first month of the season. Setup man Tyler Rogers and closer Camilo Doval are a very impressive back end of the ‘pen and should be avoided if at all possible.
The offense has been a little bit more pedestrian in the Bay Area with a .697 team OPS that is right around the middle of the pack. Outfielder Jung Hoo Lee is having a breakout season after coming over from Korea in 2024. Mike Yastrzemski is also off to the best start of his career through April with an .878 OPS to lead the team. Matt Chapman and new addition Willy Adames are looming power threats in the middle of the order.
This is going to be another difficult challenge for the Cubs, but they’ve been able to hold their own so far against good teams. If the North Siders can get by the Giants and then the Mets without crumbling, they have 10 games with the Marlins and White Sox to pad their record.
It’s time to see if Chicago can keep impressing against top-rate competition. They have done nothing but play quality baseball all year long, so they should have a fighting chance.
Game Time and Broadcast Info
- Monday, May 5 at 6:40pm CT on Marquee.
- Tuesday, May 6 at 6:40pm CT on Marquee.
- Wednesday, May 7 at 1:20pm CT on Marquee.
Starting Pitchers
| Date | Pitcher | Age | T | ERA | W/L | FIP | K/BB |
| 5/5 | Matthew Boyd | 34 | L | 2.70 | 2-2 | 3.79 | 2.31 |
| Landen Roupp | 26 | R | 5.10 | 2-2 | 3.87 | 2.50 | |
| 5/6 | Colin Rea | 34 | R | 1.46 | 1-1 | 2.50 | 4.20 |
| Justin Verlander | 42 | R | 4.38 | 0–2 | 4.15 | 2.46 | |
| 5/7 | Ben Brown | 25 | R | 4.88 | 3-2 | 3.71 | 2.50 |
| Robbie Ray | 33 | L | 3.05 | 4–0 | 4.27 | 1.95 |
What to Watch For
- Dansby Swanson has nine hits in the last six games, including three homers, since he was dropped in the batting order.
- Kyle Tucker seems to be coming out of his mini-slump, reaching base seven times against the Brewers with a pair of home runs.
- Brown had his best start of the season in Milwaukee, going six scoreless frames.
- The Cubs are just 9-7 at home so far in 2025, though only five of those losses have come at Wrigley Field (two “home” games in Tokyo).
