On The Horizon: Cubs vs. Rangers series preview

Leiter, on the other hand, relies on a high-speed, high-spin fastball that generates swings-and-misses.  He introduced a kick-change last year that he’s used much more this year — its his second most frequently thrown pitch — and, unusually, he throws it frequently to righthanded hitters as well as lefties. It can be a devastating pitch, but he struggles to command it — if you look at the heat map for the changeup, you will see that the pitch can end up anywhere from above the batter’s head to hitting the ground 4 feet in front of the plate. When Leiter is on, he racks up Ks and gets a lot of pop ups and lazy fly balls. When he’s not on, his pitch count gets out of control early on, and he gives up a lot of loud contact in the air.

Jacob deGrom is slated to pitch the finale. You might have heard of him before. He’s pretty good. He’s no longer “best pitcher in baseball” Jacob deGrom, but he is still “legitimate No. 1 starter” Jacob deGrom.  The biggest issue with deGrom is that he’s much more homer-prone since coming back from Tommy John surgery — he’s allowed just 13 runs this year, but 6 home runs, and allowed 26 homers last year.

The bullpen is a collection of no-names, but has performed quite well so far this season. Manager Skip Schumaker has tended to go with Jakob Junis and Jacob Latz as his primary options late in games with a lead.

The offense has been erratic. Corey Seager is off to a slow (for him) start, though he’s still got a 114 OPS+.  Brandon Nimmo and Josh Jung are off to great starts offensively, though Nimmo is nursing a hamstring issue that has limited him of late — he’s missed a couple of games over the past week, and DH’d when he has played. With Smith and Langford out, the Rangers have had to use Andrew McCutchen — on the roster as a platoon DH — in the outfield some, and put Joc Pederson in right field against the Yankees on Thursday, something we hope we will never have to see again.

Globe Life Park played very hitter-friendly in 2023, when the Rangers won the World Series, but since the start of the 2025 has played as an extreme pitchers park due to the ball not carrying well at all. A ball off the bat that seems like it should land 10 rows back will end up caught on the warning track. Don’t be surprised if we have a low-scoring series.

Fun facts

The Cubs have a winning record against the Rangers all-time, with 14 wins and 13 losses. But they are 5-7 at Texas, where they have won only one of four series, two games to one in 2010. They lost two of three in their two subsequent visits, both to start seasons, in 2019 and 2024.

This is the first of three straight series on the road for the Cubs, their only three-team road trip this season. However, the third series will be in Chicago, on the South Side vs. the White Sox. They will play three games at Atlanta before that one.

(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)

Probable pitching matchups

Friday: Ben Brown, RHP (1-1, 2.10 ERA, 1.013 WHIP, 2.71 FIP) vs. Kumar Rocker, RHP (1-3, 4.71 ERA, 1.465 WHIP, 3.98 FIP)

Saturday: Edward Cabrera, RHP (3-0, 3.27 ERA, 1.282 WHIP, 4.01 FIP) vs. Jack Leiter, RHP (1-3, 5.45 ERA, 1.368 WHIP, 4.45 FIP)

Sunday: Jameson Taillon, RHP (2-1, 4.24 ERA, 1.140 WHIP, 6.01 FIP) vs. Jacob deGrom, RHP (2-2, 3.11 ERA, 1.009 WHIP, 3.35 FIP)

Times & TV channels

Friday: 7:05 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, Peacock (streaming, Rangers broadcast, outside the Cubs and Rangers market territories)

Saturday: 6:05 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network

Sunday: 1:35 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network

Prediction

The Rangers got off to a decent start this year but have lost eight of their last 12. Two of the pitching matchups look favorable to the Cubs, so I’ll say, again, that the Cubs will win two of three.

Up next

The Cubs have Monday off, then head to Atlanta for a three-game series against the Braves beginning Tuesday evening.