The Cubs welcomed an NL West team to Wrigley Field on Friday with momentum and a chance to keep one of the hotter starts in the league rolling. Chicago finished April at 17-9 and had won 12 of its last 15 games as the Diamondbacks arrived after losing six of their previous nine.
Arizona came in after being outscored 28-9 in Milwaukee, then dropping the series finale 13-1, a stretch that left its pitching numbers wobbling even though the club still finished April better than.500 at 16-14. The Diamondbacks were 27th in ERA before Thursday and had won only one of seven games decided by more than five runs, a reminder that the record looked sturdier than the run differential.
Eduardo Rodriguez offered the sharpest sign of life for Arizona. He looked like the pitcher the Diamondbacks signed to an $80 million contract in December 2023, while Juan Morillo and Taylor Clarke had been effective out of the bullpen. Merrill Kelly, by contrast, had been a shadow of his former self, and backup catcher James McCann was on pace to make twenty-two appearances on the mound.
The lineup has not been the only issue, but it has helped explain why Arizona has had to lean so hard on pitching that has not held up. Ketel Marte had a.682 OPS and Geraldo Perdomo a.729 OPS, while Corbin Carroll had been as effective as ever. Ildemaro Vargas, meanwhile, led the majors with a.378 batting average and the National League with a 1.087 OPS at the end of April, carrying a 26-game hitting streak that dated back to last season and stood as the second-longest run in franchise history; Paul Goldschmidt owns the club mark at 30 games. Jose Fernandez and Nolan Arenado also had performed better than expected.
There is help ahead for Arizona, though not immediately. The Diamondbacks expect pitching reinforcement in the coming months from Corbin Burnes, Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk, all of whom are working back from elbow surgery of different kinds. Until then, the club has to survive nights like this with a staff that has too often been exposed and an offense that has not fully matched the production of its best hitters.
The Cubs know the feeling of a slow start better than most. They lost the first games of their first four homestands or road trips, opening with a 10-4 home loss to the Nationals on Opening Day, then falling to the Pirates 2-0 on April 10 before snapping the streak with a 12-4 win over the Mets on April 17. That correction has shaped the month and set up this series as a test of whether Chicago’s early surge is real or just a strong run against a friendly schedule.
The rivalry history gives the matchup a little more bite. The Cubs trail the Diamondbacks 100-90 overall since the series began in 1998 and have lost 45 games at home to Arizona. Their next home win over the Diamondbacks would be their 50th in the rivalry, a marker that tells you how often these teams have crossed paths and how often Chicago has been forced to chase them. Last year, the Cubs won two of the three meetings.
For now, the simple fact is that Chicago arrives looking like a contender and Arizona arrives trying to keep its April from becoming a mirage. One club has already answered its first set of questions. The other is still waiting for enough pitching to see whether its record can hold.