Saturday, February 21

Welcome back to the Cubs Beat newsletter. Jordan Bastian has covered baseball for MLB.com since 2005, including the Cubs since the 2019 season.

MESA, Ariz. -- The Opening Day starter is more of a ceremonial assignment than anything else. Sometimes there is an obvious choice for the honor, while other years the lack of an established ace or long-time leader creates a situation where multiple pitchers could be worthy of the title.

The 2026 Cubs do not have a clear-cut answer to the Opening Day starter question. Chicago’s rotation group is deep and an argument could be made for all five arms in the projected staff as manager Craig Counsell weighs his options. The Cubs host the Nationals on March 26 at 1:20 p.m. CT at Wrigley Field to begin this season.

With Spring Training games underway, let’s examine the Opening Day case for each starter (in order of likelihood):

1. Cade Horton

Horton finished as the runner-up for the National League Rookie of the Year last season and was, simply put, one of the best pitchers in baseball in the second half. The righty spun a 1.03 ERA in a dozen starts after the All-Star break, leading the Majors (min. 60 innings). NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes (1.89 ERA) was next in that category.

Overall, Horton ended his rookie campaign with an 11-4 ledger and a 2.67 ERA in 23 appearances, during which he had 97 strikeouts against 33 walks in 118 innings. It was an outstanding debut season for Horton, who at 24 years old could be the youngest Opening Day starter for the Cubs since 2006 (Carlos Zambrano, 24).

2. Matthew Boyd

Boyd is entering his second year with the Cubs, but the 35-year-old left-hander quickly established himself as a leader and revered teammate behind the scenes. He also enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career in '25 in the process. Boyd made his first All-Star team, won a career-high 14 games and turned in a 3.21 ERA in 179 2/3 innings (his most since 2019). He also went 12-1 with a 2.51 ERA at Wrigley Field.

3. Jameson Taillon

Taillon is entering his fourth season in Chicago and has grown into a leader for the pitching staff. The big right-hander also was the Cubs’ best starter during the playoffs last year, taking the ball twice in elimination games (Game 3 of the Wild Card Series and Game 3 of the Division Series) and posting a 2.25 ERA. Taillon had a 3.68 ERA in 23 starts overall, but was great down the stretch (1.85 ERA in his last seven outings) and strong at home (3.05 ERA in 10 starts).

4. Shota Imanaga

Imanaga’s best case is that he was the Opening Day starter for the Cubs a year ago, when Chicago faced the Dodgers at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. The lefty was an All-Star and Cy Young contender in '24, but had a bit of a rockier showing in an injury-marred '25. Imanaga still had a respectable showing (3.73 ERA in 25 starts), despite issues in the second half and playoffs.

5. Edward Cabrera

There is a case to be made for Cabrera as one of the Cubs’ big-ticket acquisitions over a busy offseason. Chicago sent Top 100 prospect Owen Caissie (No. 42) to the Marlins as part of the package to land the 27-year-old Cabrera, who has an extremely high ceiling. The hard-throwing righty had a 3.53 ERA in 26 starts last year, but was one of MLB’s top arms for a long stretch. Cabrera had a 2.22 ERA in a 16-start stretch that ran between May and August.

Counsell noted that righty Daniel Palencia will begin this season as the Cubs’ closer. Palencia collected 22 saves in his first taste of that role last year. Who was the last Cubs pitcher to notch at least 30 saves in a season?

A. Ryan Dempster

B. Hector Rondon

C. Kevin Gregg

D. Wade Davis

• Jaxon Wiggins could follow in Horton's rookie star footsteps. Read more >>

• Dansby Swanson felt "nudged" to make big changes this offseason. Read more >>

• Cubs in contract year embracing what could be "special" season. Read more >>

• These are three roster battles to watch this spring for Cubs. Read more >>

• Seiya Suzuki excited to join Team Japan after missing '23 Classic. Read more >>

• Matt Shaw already diving into outfield work as Cubs’ super sub. Read more >>

• Kevin Alcántara ready to accept any role Cubs have to offer. Read more >>

With the Cubs releasing their 2026 promotional schedule this week, the first question many fans ask is: When are the bobbleheads? Good news! The Cubs have a whole slate in store for the coming year. There will be bobblehead giveaways featuring Ben Zobrist (April 11 vs. Pirates), Ron Santo (April 18 vs. Mets), Kerry Wood (May 2 vs. D-backs), Ryne Sandberg (May 24 vs. Astros), Harry Caray (Aug. 30 vs. Reds) and Sammy Sosa (Sept. 13 vs. Pirates).

“Everyone knows how good the defense is, but offensively, he walks a lot, doesn’t strike out much, puts the ball in play, hits a lot of line drives, hits a lot of doubles. Just very, very consistent. He’s somebody that you can pencil in and know what you're going to get each and every day. And definitely someone that’s going to make this team a lot better.” -- Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, on Alex Bregman

While you were reading the newsletter last Saturday, I was out running the Mesa Marathon here in Arizona. It marked my 10th marathon to date and this one was a lot of fun. It’s a point-to-point course that begins in a mountainous region out east and ends right next to Sloan Park (shoutout to my coworkers who cheered me on at the finish line!). It was extremely well-organized and the expo and race were fantastic for a marathon of its size. While the downhills were tough on the quads (hard to simulate that in Chicagoland), I finished in 3:46:33. I’ll definitely be running this one again. 

D. Wade Davis

Davis was the last Cubs pitcher to save at least 30 saves, racking up 32 in the 2017 season. You have to go back to 1998 to find the last time a Cubs reliever crossed the 40-save benchmark in a season (Rod Beck, 51 saves). Randy Myers holds the club record with 53 saves in the '93 campaign.

To subscribe to Cubs Beat, visit this page and mark "Cubs Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Cubs or that they're checked as your favorite team.

View Online

© 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Please review our Privacy Policy.

You (mlb-newsletters@mlb.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB. 

Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.

Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.