Washington Nationals vs Chicago Cubs Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 03/28/26

The Washington Nationals took care of business on Opening Day, exploding for 10 runs in a 10-4 win over the Chicago Cubs. The most surprising performance of the day was from Cubs ace Matthew Boyd, who struggled to get past any of the Nationals’ young hitters. While Washington has a bright future, it would be surprising if their offensive outburst lasted too long into this season, and it won’t get much easier for them as they face Cade Horton in their second game of the season.

Horton had a great start to his career, starting 22 games for the Cubs in 2025 with a 2.67 ERA. He showed in Spring Training that his success from last year was sustainable, and it’s possible that he will be the ace for this team down the road if he and Boyd continue to trend in opposite directions. Some of the hitters in the Nationals’ lineup have success against Horton in limited action last season, but the majority of them have never seen the right-hander before, which is sure to cause problems.

Miles Mikolas is a pitcher whose career has been trending downward after a couple of great seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. He posted a 4.84 ERA last season, with his strikeout rate declining, leading to a breakup between him and the team he called home for seven seasons. Mikolas hopes to revitalize his career in Washington, but he is a pitcher the Cubs have seen a lot of in the NL Central, and six of their regulars have an average north of .300 against the righty.

The Cubs get a bounce-back win at Wrigley here against an old friend in Mikolas.

Nationals vs Cubs prediction: Cubs -1.5 (-120) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.