Cubs should be itching to get to Opening Day after Nationals’ latest signing

The Chicago Cubs will open the 2026 regular season at home against the Washington Nationals, who are entering, roughly, phase 35 of their ongoing rebuild since winning the 2019 World Series.

Gone is MacKenzie Gore, once a pie-in-the-sky Cubs trade target. In his place, the Nats have signed... Miles Mikolas?

The 37-year-old Mikolas was one of the most important arms in the St. Louis Cardinals' rotation a few years ago, but age has sapped him of most of his effectiveness. He was hammered repeatedly last year, including a few times by the Cubs.

As if that season-opening series didn't already look juicy enough.

Miles Mikolas could get rude Nationals greeting by Cubs in opening series

Even without Gore, there's no guarantee that Mikolas will earn one of the top three jobs in the Nationals' rotation; if he doesn't, he'll avoid another dance with the Cubs, at least in March.

But with former Cubs prospect DJ Herz still sidelined by Tommy John surgery, there's not a lot of competition for the frontline starting pitcher jobs in the nation's capital. Cade Cavalli and Josiah Gray are ostensibly the team's 1-2 punch, but the rest of the group is far from inspiring.

If Mikolas does have to face the Cubs, perhaps he should call in sick that day. He only drew the North Siders twice in 2025, but both proved to be thrashings. On Sept. 26, he gave up four earned runs (three home runs) in five innings en route to a 12-1 loss. And on July 5, the Cubs made franchise history by hitting eight homers, including six off Mikolas in six painful-to-watch innings.

That was the continuation of a downward trend for Mikolas against the Cardinals' biggest rivals. The right-hander has faced the Cubs nine times since the start of the 2023 campaign, and he's been lit up to the tune of a 6.96 ERA in those appearances.

And while it's true that the Cubs in particular have had his number recently, it's just the plain truth that he's no longer the pitcher he once was. Over the past three seasons combined, Mikolas has pitched to a 4.98 ERA over 98 starts.

While Chicago won't have the benefit of facing him on a division rival anymore, they will certainly revel squaring off against Mikolas on Opening Day (or the game or two after) if the Nationals are brave enough to send him out onto the mound.