Chicago Cubs vs Los Angeles Dodgers – Series Preview (August 3-5): Overview, Game and Broadcast Info, Starting Pitchers, W2W4
After a successful road trip, the Cubs (63-49) stumbled a bit in their return home to Wrigley by dropping two out of three to a talented Yankees squad. Craig Counsell‘s team struggled to get much going with the bats, scoring only six total runs against the best pitching staff in baseball. Things don’t get any easier this week with a series against the two-time defending champion Dodgers starting Monday.
Los Angeles (69-43) is having another huge year, sitting well above the pack in the National League West and battling the Brewers for the best record in the National League. As if that wasn’t enough, they also just landed the top starting pitcher on the trade market, Tarik Skubal, from the Tigers.
The Dodgers are very dangerous offensively with a .771 team OPS that is the highest in baseball. Shohei Ohtani is having another huge year at the plate with 24 home runs and a .921 OPS despite being unable to pitch due to a knee injury. A pair of veteran lefties, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy, are having excellent seasons as well.
LA is not exactly hurting in the pitching department either, with a team ERA of 3.64 that is fifth-best in MLB. Injuries to the starting staff are a concern, but adding Skubal eases those significantly. Justin Wrobleski has emerged as a big piece of the rotation with a 2.88 ERA and 11 wins.
If the Dodgers have one relatively weak spot, it would be a bullpen that has a 3.99 ERA that is firmly in the middle of the pack. Closer Tanner Scott bounced back from a rough 2025 and has 16 saves with a 2.42 ERA. Jack Dreyer and Edgardo Henriquez are two of the more effective high-leverage options.
The Cubs made their own trade-deadline move to land Kevin Gausman from the Blue Jays, but he won’t start in the series. Los Angeles is a very difficult opponent, so the Cubs are going to need to do something about the offense that has suddenly gone stagnant over the last five games.
Game Time and Broadcast Info
- Monday, August 3 at 7:05pm CT on Marquee.
- Tuesday, August 4 at 7:05pm CT on TBS and Marquee.
- Wednesday, August 5 at 1:20pm CT on MLB Network and Marquee.
Starting Pitchers
| Date | Pitcher | Age | T | ERA | W/L | FIP | K/BB |
| 8/3 | Matthew Boyd | 35 | L | 3.41 | 6-1 | 3.55 | 3.16 |
| Justin Wrobleski | 26 | L | 2.88 | 11-2 | 3.60 | 4.14 | |
| 8/4 | Javier Assad | 29 | R | 3.75 | 6-1 | 4.82 | 2.67 |
| Tarik Skubal | 29 | L | 2.79 | 7-5 | 2.60 | 8.29 | |
| 8/5 | Shōta Imanaga | 32 | L | 3.67 | 7-9 | 4.43 | 4.10 |
| Eric Lauer | 31 | L | 4.50 | 6-5 | 5.87 | 1.93 |
What to Watch For
- Pete Crow-Armstrong continues to show incredible plate discipline with four more walks against the Yankees.
- Assad is possibly making his last start for a while with Gausman entering the fold.
- The Dodgers took two of three when the teams met in LA early in the season.
- Pedro Ramírez has reached base nine times in his last six games.
