3 takeaways from 2026 Chicago Cubs Opening Day

Bottom of the order needs to contribute

The Cubs have a long lineup as they have hitters who can make a pitcher work. There are not many ‘easy’ outs in the lineup, but the bottom-third of the order struggled on Opening Day. The 7-8-9 hitters in today’s lineup were Moises Ballesteros, Dansby Swanson, and Matt Shaw (Michael Conforto pinch-hit in the eighth). They combined to go 0 for 9 with three walks and a run scored.

Getting a bunch of hits from the bottom of the lineup is not expected, but being able to drive in some of the guys above them would certainly have put more pressure on the Nationals.

Hitting with runners in scoring position needs to be better

The ability to string hits together is going to be crucial, and today’s performance is not what we saw out of the team last season. During Thursday’s game, the Cubs were just 4 for 19 with runners in scoring position. To put that number in perspective, Chicago was tied for fifth in MLB last season with a .267 team batting average with runners in scoring position.

While this is something that will correct itself due to just the sheer talent in the lineup, it is still alarming. Just a couple of those outs change to hits, and things could’ve looked a lot different.

Matthew Boyd needs to shake off this outing

There is a lot of pressure being the Opening Day starter. Matthew Boyd had a rough go of things as he could not get out of the third inning. Boyd allowed six runs on six hits, but had command of his pitches. He needs to figure out how to shake off. With an additional day between starts due to Friday’s off-day, he has some time to find out what went wrong between now and Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels.