Since these two teams met last week, the Cubs swept the White Sox at home, and the Marlins won two of three from the Rays at home.
And I just want to say that I hate scheduling like this. Six games against a single team in a 10-day period, then the Cubs probably won’t see the Marlins again until the second half of 2026, the way MLB schedules things now.
Bring back the unbalanced schedule!
For more on the Marlins, here’s Ely Sussman, who runs the Marlins site Fish On First. (This time for sure!)
The Marlins’ fortunes in recent years have largely hinged on the quality of their starting pitching. For them to be legitimately competitive, or at least swing trades with an eye toward competing in the future, they need to develop arms. To this point of the 2025 season, the rotation has been their biggest weakness. Their low fastball usage approach has produced horrible results. The unit ranks in the bottom three among MLB teams in ERA, walk rate and innings pitched.
As the Cubs saw for themselves last week, the Marlins just got a huge reinforcement in Ryan Weathers. The left-hander looked poised for an excellent campaign in spring training and his stuff is nastier than ever. However, Sandy Alcantara still cannot snap out of the worst slump of his career. The coaching staff is reluctant to let Miami’s other starters face opposing lineups for a third time.
Much like the crowds at loanDepot park, Miami’s offense tends to arrive late, if it arrives at all. Their team OPS jumps nearly 150 points against relievers compared to starters. The Marlins are unafraid to play from behind. For an organization that has repeatedly failed to find viable hitters, the breakouts of Kyle Stowers and Agustín Ramírez have been very encouraging.
Fun facts
The Cubs have a .517 winning percentage against the Marlins, having won 121 games and lost 113.
They have a higher percentage against three current National League teams: .544 vs. the Padres (285-239), .541 vs. the Braves (1,252-1,063-19) and .524 vs. the Phillies (1,246-1,131-18).
The Cubs have outscored the Marlins by more than 100 runs, 1,089 to 982. At Miami, they have scored 531 runs and allowed 493, but are 54-58.The Cubs split four games at Miami in 2017 and 2018, then swept three games in 2019. The last four years, they have alternated losing three (2021 and 2023) and winning two of three (2022 and 2024)
This is the first of three times this season that the Cubs will face an opponent twice in a span of three series.
They will visit Cincinnati at the end of this week, then return home to play the Rockies, then host the Reds.
They will welcome the Braves on Sept. 1-3, host the Nationals, then journey to Atlanta.
(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Probable pitching matchups
Monday: Ben Brown, RHP (3-3, 4.75 ERA, 1.560 WHIP, 3.30 FIP) vs. Edward Cabrera, RHP (0-1, 5.52 ERA, 1.534 WHIP, 4.96 FIP)
Tuesday: Jameson Taillon, RHP (2-3, 4.53 ERA, 1.107 WHIP, 5.34 FIP) vs. Ryan Weathers, LHP (1-0, 1.80 ERA, 0.600 WHIP, 4.29 FIP)
Wednesday: Cade Horton, RHP (2-0, 6.00 ERA, 1.222 WHIP, 6.20 FIP) vs. Max Meyer, RHP (3-4, 4.47 ERA, 1.331 WHIP, 3.88 FIP)
Times & TV channels
Monday: 5:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Tuesday: 5:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Wednesday: 12:10 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Prediction
The pitching matchups don’t really favor the Cubs here, but I still don’t see any reason the Cubs shouldn’t take two of three.
Up next
The Cubs again have Thursday off and then travel to Cincinnati to face the Reds in a three-game series beginning Friday evening.
