SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:
Padres enjoy an off day yesterday after playing 18 games in 18 days
• After enjoying their 1st off day on April 5 in Atlanta, the Padres finally enjoyed their 2nd off day yesterday, having played 18 games in 18 days from April 6-23 (and will have played 21 games in 22 days from April 6-27)…their 3rd off day will be on April 28 (in Mexico City)…their 1st off day in San Diego won’t be until May 4.
Padres win 3 of 4 in Arizona; have won 4 of their last 5 games
• San Diego’s series victory on Sunday was their 2nd series win of 2023 (1st was from April 6-9 when they took 3 of 4 @ Atlanta)…it was already the Padres’ 4th 4-game series of 2023, and now they’ve won 2, lost 1, and split 1.
• On Sunday @ AZ, Yu Darvish got his 1st win of 2023, and the Padres offence was largely powered by DH Matt Carpenter, who went 3-for-3 with 2 doubles, a home run, 5 RBI, and 8 total bases.
• SD has won 2 straight games and 4 of their last 5 games since April 19…this comes immediately following a stretch of 7 games from April 12-18 in which they won just 1 of the 7 games they played.
“Friar” Friendly Confines
• Going back to 2010, the Padres have scored the most runs per game (5.18 R/G) at Wrigley Field of any MLB team (the Cubs have scored 4.40 R/G at Wrigley in that time).
• The Padres have the 2nd-best record of any team visiting Wrigley for at least 10 games since 2010 at 21-19(.525), behind the White Sox who are 21-12 (.636).
• During their last series at Wrigley, the Padres scored 19 runs on June 15, 2022, the most they have ever scored there…it was the most runs scored at Wrigley by any visiting MLB team since July 1, 1999 when the Brewers also scored 19.
Bogey going off
• Xander Bogaerts’ .963 OPS this year leads all National League shortstops, and he is 1 of just 5 players this season with at least 100 plate appearances to have more walks (12) than strikeouts (10).
4+ run lead
• The Padres gained a 4-0 lead on Sunday vs. AZ and won, 7-5…over the last 2 seasons, when San Diego has a lead of at least 4 runs in a game, they are 50-2 (.962).
Padres defense has committed 1 error in the last 9 G
• The Padres defense has committed just 1 error in their last 9 games, and through the 1st 24 games in 2023, the Padres have made only 6 errors (tied for fewest in MLB) after making just 10 after their 1st 24 games last season… their 6 errors are the fewest the Padres have ever made in their 1st 24 games in a season in club history.
2nd road-trip of the year
• The Padres are on their 2nd road-trip, which a casual 11-day, 9-game trip that includes a 2-game “home” series in Mexico City at Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium vs. SF to cap the trip from April 29-30…after the Padres’ 3 game set in CHC, they will fly to Mexico City, have an off day in Mexico on April 28, and host a 2-game series vs. SF before flying home and hosting the Reds the next day on May 1st.
CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:
YOU STAY CLASSY, SAN DIEGO: The Chicago Cubs today open a three-game set against the Padres to conclude this eight-day, seven-game homestand … with these three games against San Diego, Chicago will wrap up a stretch of 19 games (10-6), all against A.L. or N.L. West teams.
Chicago dropped the series finale against the Dodgers Sunday, losing consecutive games for the first time since a season-high three-game skid April 1-3 vs. Milwaukee (2 G) and at Cincinnati (1 G).
Hat tip to Marcus Stroman who, in Sunday’s tilt, picked up his 1,000th career strikeout in his 209th career game!
Following this homestand, the team departs for a seven-game trip at the Marlins (3 games starting Friday) and Nationals (4 games beginning May 1).
STEELE ON THE BUMP: Justin Steele makes his fifth start of the season tonight … he has thrown at least 6.0 innings in each of his first four starts, the first time in his career that he has logged at least 6.0 innings in four consecutive outings.
His 1.44 ERA is good for fifth in the majors and second in the N.L. (trailing Bryce Elder, ATL, 1.14), while his .163 opponent average is fourth-lowest in the majors and second-lowest in the N.L. (Spencer Strider, ATL, leads with .136) and his 0.88 WHIP ranks fifth-best in the N.L.
In his last 11 starts dating to July 22, 2022, Steele has posted a 1.17 ERA which ranks first among major league pitchers (min. 10 starts) in that span … over the same period, he has posted 10.36 strikeouts per nine innings, good for sixth-best among lefties … in each of those 11 starts, he has allowed two-or-fewer earned runs, the third-longest active streak in the majors, behind Max Fried (13) and Shohei Ohtani (12).
FAMILIAR FOE: Eric Hosmer, who, along with Brad Boxberger, Luis Torrens and manager David Ross, played for both San Diego and Chicago, leads current Cubs players with a .441 batting average (15-for-34), .474 on-base percentage and .765 slugging percentage against San Diego … in fact, Hosmer’s .441 average against the Padres is his highest against any opponent over the course of his career.
Among active major league hitters with at least eight games played against San Deigo, Hosmer paces the pack in batting average, ranks third in slugging percentage and fifth in on-base percentage.
GOMES GETS GOING: Yan Gomes has reached based safely in each of his last seven games with hits in six of them, including four multi-hit efforts … he is 11-for-30 (.367) with three home runs, six RBI, seven runs scored, a .667 slugging percentage and a 1.054 OPS since April 11 … his .367 average leads N.L. catchers in that span and his slugging percentage ranks second (Sean Murphy of Atlanta is first with .775).
ARM CARE: Cubs pitching has posted a 3.67 ERA (76 ER/206.0 IP) this season, the fourth-best mark in the N.L. and ninth in the majors … the starting rotation has a 3.23 ERA (40 ER/111.1 IP), the fourth-best mark in baseball behind Tampa Bay (2.67), Minnesota (2.69) and Atlanta (3.15).
Cubs relievers have pitched to a 4.30 ERA (35 ER/73.1 IP) while averaging 11.41 strikeouts per 9.0 innings, the top mark in the majors (Cardinals are second with an 11.05 rate) … the bullpen, which posted a 3.67 ERA in its first 17 games to start the year, allowed 12 ER in 16.0 innings pitched (6.75 ERA) in the last four games against the Dodgers.
YOU GO, NICO!: Nico Hoerner in the season’s early going is hitting .355 (33-for-93) with 20 runs scored, five doubles, two homers, 11 RBI and nine stolen bases, having reached base safely in 20 of 21 games played … his 33 hits are tied for second in the majors, trailing Ronald Acuña Jr. with 34, as are his nine stolen bases, and 19 runs scored are tied for third.
Hoerner has reached base safely in a career-high 19-straight games since April 2, tied for the third-longest active streak in the majors.
Hoerner’s .355 average ranks second among all qualifying leadoff hitters, trailing only Acuña (.358).
TWO STRIKES? TWO OUTS? SO WHAT?: The Cubs lead the majors with a .222 average (90-for-406) and a .292 on-base percentage and are second with a .362 slugging percentage when batting with two strikes in the count.
Patrick Wisdom’s six home runs and 10 extra-base hits with two strikes on him lead the majors, while his 11 RBI are tied for the league-lead with Albies (ATL) and Tucker (HOU) … his 13 two-strike hits are tied for fifth-most in the majors and tied for second in the N.L.
NOBODY BEATS THE WIZ: Patrick Wisdom’s nine homers are third-most in the majors (Max Muncy, 11, and Pete Alonso, 10) while his .679 slugging mark is fourth in the league … his 14 extra-base hits are tied for second in the N.L., trailing Dodgers J.D. Martinez (15) and his 53 total bases are second behind the Mets Pete Alonso (55).
Wisdom’s nine homers, including his three-run shot Friday, came within the team’s first 19 games of the season … the only Cubs to reach nine homers in fewer team games are Lee Walls in 1958 (first 14 team games) and Hank Sauer in 1954 (first 15 team games).
FUN WITH 10 RUNS: Including Friday’s 13 runs scored, the Cubs have recorded at least one 10-run game in five of their first seven series this season … the last time the franchise turned that trick was in 1938, also recording 10-run games in five of their first seven series … Chicago’s 5.76 runs per game this season is third-highest in the majors (Tampa Bay, 6.83 & Texas, 6.59).
Starting Pitcher – #35 LHP Justin Steele (3-0, 1.44)
Last Time Out
Justin earned his career-high third-straight win April 19 in Oakland … has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 11-straight starts dating to July 22, 2022 … received five-plus runs of support for the third-straight outing … held Oakland to an average exit velocity of 83.5 mph … has allowed four or fewer hits in all four starts in 2023.
Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
4/19 @OAK W, 12-2 6.0 4 2 1 2 5 89-56 6-2
2023 Splits and Season Notes
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
Home 1-0 0.75 2 2 12.0 7 1 1 5 11
Road 2-0 2.08 2 2 13.0 7 4 3 3 13
AVG vs. LHB: .316 (6-for-19) / AVG vs. RHB: .119 (8-for-67)
Justin is making his fifth start of the 2023 season today, third at Wrigley Field … has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 11-straight starts since July 22, 2022, the third-longest active streak in the majors behind Max Fried (13) and Shohei Ohtani (12) … has posted a 1.18 ERA (8 ER/61.2 IP) since July 22, 2022, the lowest ERA in the majors during the run (min. 11 GS) … his 1.44 ERA in 2023 is the second-lowest in the N.L. and fifth-lowest in the majors (min. 4 GS) … right-handed hitters are batting .100 (5-for-50) against him … opposing batters are hitting .040 (1-for-25) off his slider.
Went 1-1 with a 2.63 ERA (4 ER/13.2 IP) with 13 strikeouts in four Cactus League starts in 2023 … started and tossed the first 2.0 innings of the Cubs combined no-hitter, March 3 at San Diego.
