Chicago Cubs 2025 Season Preview

The Cubs have finished second the last two seasons in the NL Central, winning 83 games in each. This year they come into the season as the favorites in the division. Will they be able to climb over the Milwaukee Brewers, the dominant team in the division over the past years?

2025 Chicago Cubs Win Total Projection & World Series Odds

When it comes to MLB news, the Cubs sit at +2800 to win the World Series. That is an interesting number given the team’s overall lack of postseason success and having to find a way to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020. When it comes to MLB predictions, the win total projection sits at 86½. If you are looking to go over here in MLB picks, that means you would think the Cubs will win more games in a season than they have since 2018. They opened their season with a pair of losses in Japan to the Dodgers.

2025 Chicago Cubs Projected Starting Lineup

Projected lineup per MLB.com

• Ian Happ, LF
• Kyle Tucker, RF
• Seiya Suzuki, DH
• Michael Busch, 1B
• Matt Shaw, 3B
• Dansby Swanson, SS
• Nico Hoerner, 2B
• Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF
• Miguel Amaya, C

Lineup Strengths and Weaknesses

The Cubs have balance and power in their lineup. Happy hit 25 home runs last season. Cody Bellinger’s 18 dingers will be missed as he left for the Yankees. Suzuki has some pop and hit 21 home runs last year. If this team is to make those MLB playoff predictions true, they will need to show some more spark and pop at the plate. Some of that could come from the versatile veteran Justin Turner, who can DH and place some first base. He’s a nice hand to have in the clubhouse, too.

Matt Shaw had a rough intro to the bigs on a full-time basis as he went 1-for-9 with four strikeouts in the two-game series in Japan. He will be one to watch when it comes to MLB matchups as the Cubs must get some hitting out of their third baseman.

Landing Tucker from Houston will go a long way toward bolstering this team’s bats. He could be a good person to team with others in the lineup on the same game MLB baseball parlay picks in the prop market.

Chicago Cubs Projected Starting Rotation

The rotation per MLB.com:

1. Justin Steele, LHP
2. Jameson Taillon, RHP
3. Shota Imanaga, LHP
4. Matthew Boyd, LHP
5. Ben Brown, RHP

Imanaga was great last year going 15-3 with 174 strikeouts in 173 innings. If he is the No. 3 starter, the first two had better have live arms. Taillon had a good season with a 12-8 mark and Steele is a strong lefty pitcher and helps comprise a stellar top three. They are a big reason the Cubs are now favored to win the NL Central.

The others have to be counted on for solid innings and making sure the team is more than three-deep in its starting core.

Projected Bullpen

Per MLB.com: Ryan Brasier, Ben Brown, Porter Hodge, Julian Merryweather, Tyson Miller, Eli Morgan, Nate Pearson, Ryan Pressly, Colin Rea, Caleb Thielbar, Jordan Wicks

“Very few teams go into the season like, ‘I’ve got it figured out for my bullpen,’” said Cubs manager Craig Counsell at the Winter Meetings in December. “I think if you do, you’re going to be making a mistake.”

That could be moved to March and April. The Cubs’ bullpen is a work in progress. Hodge did excellent work in 2024. He struck out 52 in 43 innings. He finished 17 games, which means they were mostly losses and not save situations. Pearson should also see some work down the stretch of games.

Chicago Cubs Schedule and Key Matchups

Well, the season got off on the wrong cleats with two losses in Japan to the Dodgers. That could happen to any team as LA is the prohibitive favorite to win the World Series among MLB experts picks.

When the season starts in the States, there will be seven road games against the Diamondbacks and Athletics. Pump the brakes if this team starts out with a lot of trouble before it faces the usual MLB injuries that teams face.

After a six-game homestand, there is a six-game road trip against the Padres and Dodgers. Feels like someone has it in for Chicago’s NL team in the early part of this campaign. When they come home they get the Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Phillies. If you are making baseball futures bets, keep an eye on Chicago this month.

June will feature a homestand with a series against the Pirates, Brewers and Mariners. The first two are division rivals and the Cubs need to take care of them, especially at home.

The final run into the All-Star break has series at Minnesota and the Yankees. This schedule seems to have a lot of spots the Cubs could hit potholes if they aren’t careful.

The Pirates and Brewers comprise an entire six-game homestand in August. Can’t state enough times how much the Wrigley Field confines have to play in Chicago’s favor. The Cubs can’t struggle at home and think they will win the division, or earn a wild card.

The good news about the season-ending run is it will be at home. The teams the Cubs will meet in their last two series are the Mets and Cardinals. St. Louis would like nothing more than to ruin any postseason hopes and dreams its rival has.