Chicago Cubs vs. Washington Nationals preview, Thursday 6/5, 5:45 CT

The Cubs again try for a series win in D.C.

Today’s roster move:

Functionally, this doesn’t do anything to the 40-man roster, as Miller was on the 60-day injured list and did not count against that roster limit. He had to be activated because he had reached the end of his rehab assignment time.

With the bullpen doing as well as it has recently, there just wasn’t room for Miller. If he clears waivers he might wind up back in the organization at Triple-A Iowa, but the reality is that there are a lot of teams who could use someone like Miller and he likely winds up with another team.

Thursday notes…

• ABOUT THURSDAY: The Cubs’ season began on a Tuesday, March 18. Today is the 12th Thursday since then. It is only the third on which the Cubs will play. They won both previous games, 10-6 at Arizona on March 27 in their North American opener, then 8-3 at Pittsburgh on May 1.Starting today, the Cubs will play on six consecutive Thursdays through the week before the break for the All-Star Game. They will host the Pirates and the Brewers the next two weeks, then play at St. Louis, at home vs. the Guardians and at Minnesota. They will have five more Thursday games after the break, two at home and three on the road. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• LOTS OF WINS: The Cubs have not lost consecutive games since they dropped three straight May 6-9. They have had back-to-back losses three times: March 18-19, April 9-11 and April 26-27. They lost back-to-back to the same opponent only three times: to the Dodgers in Tokyo, at home vs. the Phillies and at home vs. the Giants. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• MILESTONE: Last night’s loss was the Cubs’ 2,000th since the start of 2000. They have won 2,007 and tied one, for a winning percentage of .5008. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• SEIYA SOON: Seiya Suzuki, last 15 games since May 12: .311/.382/.662 (23-for-74) with 11 doubles, five home runs, 21 RBI, 11 walks and 13 runs scored.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Nationals lineup:

Drew Pomeranz, LHP vs. Jake Irvin, RHP

As he did last Saturday against the Reds at Wrigley Field, Drew Pomeranz is serving as an opener, likely for Colin Rea, whose turn in the rotation it would have been tonight.

Pomeranz did an excellent job against the Reds, retiring the only three batters he faced on just nine pitches. Lefthanded hitters are 2-for-18 with six strikeouts vs. Pomeranz this year. I’ll suggest right now that if Pomeranz does well tonight — and with a low pitch count — he could conceivably do this again tomorrow in Detroit, as he hasn’t pitched since that outing against the Reds and should be well rested.

Below are pitch charts for both Pomeranz and Rea.

Jake Irvin is having a pretty good year, though his K rate is down so far in 2025. He also got lit up in his last start, May 30 vs. the D-backs (10 hits and six runs in five innings).

The Cubs hit him pretty well Sept. 22, 2024 at Wrigley Field — five runs in four innings, including three home runs.

Hopefully, the same can happen tonight.

Baseball Savant

Baseball Savant

Baseball Savant

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. You can find out if Marquee is available via a provider in your area here.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Nationals site Federal Baseball. If you do go there to interact with Nationals fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2025 Game Thread procedure will be identical to last year’s.

You’ll find the game preview posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game, including the First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread, as well as the recap when it’s published. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread in the box marked “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at 90 minutes after the scheduled game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.