We meet again (finally): Crew, Cubs set for first showdown of '26

CHICAGO – The last time the Brewers and Cubs met, it was during a 2025 NL Division Series that went the distance.

The teams are set to renew rivalries beginning tonight at Wrigley Field – the deepest into a season they have waited to match up since 2004, when they didn’t see each other until July.

“Obviously, there is history, but then also, every year is a totally new season for both teams,” said Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner. “There’s starters that we’ll face that we’ve never faced before. So, even though it’s a familiar opponent, every year has new roster constructions and there’s turnover and different energy.”

“I’m not going to stand here and tell you it’s not a big series,” said Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers. “I think a lot of guys are excited for it. We have guys who are going to get a taste of that atmosphere for the first time.”

The Brewers are three-time defending NL Central champions and emerged victorious in last year’s NLDS. But the Cubs have already banked a pair of double-digit winning streaks and have led the division every day since the start of May.

Chicago holds a 1 1/2-game lead over the Brewers as this meeting gets underway.

“Any series that we play division rivals, that’s a big deal, whether we’re playing the Cardinals, the Pirates, the Cubs,” said budding Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski. “But we play them three more times after that, so maybe come August and September, that means a little bit more. We’re still at such a long way to go.”

Scheduled pitching matchups

• Monday: RHP Brandon Sproat (1-2, 5.75 ERA) vs. LHP Shota Imanaga (4-3, 2.32 ERA)
• Tuesday: RHP Jacob Misiorowski (3-2, 2.12 ERA) vs. RHP Ben Brown (1-1, 1.60 ERA)
• Wednesday: LHP Kyle Harrison (4-1, 2.09 ERA) vs. RHP Edward Cabrera (3-1, 4.06 ERA)

About the bullpens …

Brewers: The Crew has flipped between Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill as the closer based on matchups, but are without two high-leverage bullpen arms with Angel Zerpa (Tommy John surgery) and Jared Koenig (sprained elbow) on the IL. Aaron Ashby, the surprise MLB wins leader, is Milwaukee's primary lefty weapon. They’re all rested after not appearing Saturday or Sunday against the Twins.

Cubs: Daniel Palencia and Phil Maton are back in the bullpen after stints on the injured list and have been finding their rhythm of late. Lefty Caleb Thielbar should rejoin the relief corps soon as well, following his own IL stint. Combined with lefty Hoby Milner and righty Jacob Webb, those are Chicago’s main bullpen arms.

Numbers to know

+61: The Brewers’ NL Central-leading run differential. The Cubs are second at +42.

Seven: The number of Cubs pitchers who have earned at least one save this season, tied for most in the Majors. One of them, Brown, will start a game in this series as one of Chicago’s many moving parts in the bullpen.

30th: The Brewers’ MLB rank in home runs hit (30) and home runs allowed (34). The Cubs have hit the seventh-most home runs (57) and allowed the second-most (64).

The Brewers’ season so far

The Brewers don’t hit for much power, but they have won or split six consecutive series against the D-backs, Nationals, Cardinals, Yankees, Padres and Twins by putting balls in play and using their speed while relying on a perennially stout run-prevention unit. Their two most accomplished starting pitchers are on the injured list – Brandon Woodruff with shoulder inflammation and Quinn Priester with thoracic outlet syndrome – leaving a rotation composed entirely of pitchers with fewer than two years of Major League service making every start to far in the month of May.

So far, so good. The Brewers have the Majors’ best May ERA (2.32) and have been winning games with an offense that has hit only eight homers on the road – half as many as the next-lowest team. Some of that power outage can be attributed to the absences of Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn for the first five-plus weeks of the season with left hand fractures, and Christian Yelich missing more than a month with a strained groin followed by a flare-up of his troublesome back. Just in time for this series against the Cubs, Yelich improved to the point that he returned to the lineup on Sunday and homered in a loss at Minnesota.

The Cubs are drawing three pitchers who have been hot. Rookie righty Sproat, MLB strikeouts co-leader Misiorowski and left-hander Harrison are a combined 5-0 with a 1.27 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings so far this month.

The Cubs’ season so far

The Cubs got off to a sluggish start (7-9) before turning a corner in historic fashion in mid-April. Beginning on April 12, the North Siders rattled off 21 wins in 25 games, including a pair of 10-game winning streaks. That includes a 15-game winning streak at Wrigley Field that remains active when the Brewers come to the Friendly Confines for this series.

What has stood out about Chicago’s season to date – similar to the Brewers – is that the club has swiftly climbed up the division standings while weathering a pile of injury setbacks. The Cubs lost ‘25 rookie standout Cade Horton for the year due to right elbow surgery. Veteran Matthew Boyd has had two stints on the IL. There has been a steady churn in the bullpen due to multiple setbacks to key arms.

Through it all, the Cubs have had some unexpected pitchers step up in the bullpen and also in the rotation (notably Brown) to hold the line, while Imanaga has looked more and more like his ‘24 self. Offensively, Chicago features a deep, well-rounded lineup that is hard to strike out and has speed and athleticism on the bases. The Cubs also feature one of the game’s top defensive units, which has played a starring role in the season so far.