CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:
The Cubs and Nationals play seven games spanning two series this season … following this four-game set at Nationals Park, the teams will meet at Wrigley Field for three games, July 17-19 … Chicago has won the last two season series against the Nationals, going 4-3 in 2021 and 4-2 in 2022.
CUBS SNAP BRIEF SKID: The Chicago Cubs tonight play the second of four games against the Washington Nationals after last night snapping a season-high tying three-game skid with a 5-1 victory over Washington … Drew Smyly allowed one run in 7.0 innings, Dansby Swanson was 3-for-5 with a double, homer and two RBI and Ian Happ was 2-for-2 with a solo homer off the bench.
Smyly is one of three N.L. hurlers (also Clayton Kershaw and Zac Gallen) with two outings of at least 7.0 innings and one or no runs allowed this season, which are also tied for the most in the majors.
The Cubs went 10-3 in 13 games from April 4-19, but have gone 4-7 in their last 11 dating to April 20.
Tonight is the fifth game (1-3) of a stretch that sees the team on the road for 16 of 22 contests through May 21.
Chicago’s plus-47 run differential is tied for second the N.L. and tied fourth-best in the majors with Atlanta, trailing only Tampa Bay (+103), Texas (+72) and Pittsburgh (+48).
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: Dansby Swanson last night was 3-for-5 with a double, homer and two RBI … his six games of three or more hits this season are tied for the most in the majors with Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. … Swanson has reached safely at least three times in a game 12 times this season, the most in the majors.
Swanson has drawn 21 free passes this season, tied for third-most in the N.L., while his 16.9% walk rate is fifth in the N.L. … entering this season, his career walk rate stood at 8.6%.
STINGY STAFF: Last night marked the seventh game this season in which Chicago held the opponent to one or no runs in a contest … those seven such games are tied for third-most in the N.L. with Atlanta, trailing only Pittsburgh (8) and Milwaukee (8).
CODY CALLS HIS SHOT: Cody Bellinger since April 4 has hit .338 (27-for-80) with 22 runs, five doubles, a triple, six home runs, and 14 RBI in his last 21 games, reaching safely in 20 of those contests … has scored a run in 16 of his last 18 games.
Bellinger homered in consecutive games Saturday and Sunday in Miami and has gone deep in four of his last eight contests dating to April 20.
Since April 4, Bellinger’s .650 slugging mark and 1.059 OPS are second fourth N.L. qualified hitters … Bellinger has a 9.7% walk rate and 15.1% strikeout rate since April 4.
NOBODY BEATS THE WIZ: Patrick Wisdom on Saturday belted his 10th homer of the season in the team’s 26th game … he’s just the sixth Cub to reach the 10-homer mark in 26 or fewer team games, joining: Gabby Hartnett in 1925, Hank Sauer in 1954, Billy Williams in 1970, Sammy Sosa in 2002 and Alfonso Soriano in 2011.
Since the start of the 2021 season, Wisdom has averaged one home run every 14.32 at-bats, the second-best rate among N.L. hitters with at least 900 plate appearances (Kyle Schwarber, 12.15).
26 AND COUNTING: Nico Hoerner has reached base safely in his last 26 games dating to April 2 … that’s the third-longest active streak in the majors behind San Diego’s Xander Bogaerts (32) and Houston’s Yordan Alvarez (27) … Hoerner’s 26-straight games reaching safely is the longest by a Cub since Kris Bryant reached in 26-straight games April 17-May 17, 2019.
The last Cub with a longer on-base streak is Bryan LaHair, who reached safely in 32-consecutive games during the 2012 season.
Hoerner’s 40 hits are tied for third in MLB, his 10 steals are tied for fourth in the N.L., his .323 average ranks fifth and his 22 runs scored are tied for fifth.
LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD: The Cubs have scored at least one run in each of their first 28 games of the season, just the sixth time in the expansion era (since 1961) the team has gotten on the board in each of its first 27 contests … the longest season-opening streaks in this span: 47 G in 1995, 43 G in 2020, 40 G in 2012, 35 G in 1975 and 34 G in 1991 … also, I tried to come up with a catchier headline, but couldn’t.
ARM CARE: Cubs pitching has posted a 3.55 ERA (98 ER/248.2 IP) this season, the second-best mark in the N.L. (Milwaukee, 3.41) … the starting rotation has a 3.31 ERA (54 ER/149.1 IP), the second-best mark in the N.L. and fourth in baseball.
Cubs relievers have thrown 99.1 innings this season, third-fewest in the N.L. and sixth-fewest in the majors … the bullpen has averaged 11.05 strikeouts per 9.0 innings, the second-best mark in the majors (Cardinals are first with an 11.29 rate).
TWO STRIKES? SO WHAT?: The Cubs lead the majors with a .220 average (119-for540), .297 OPB and 62 RBI when batting with two strikes in the count … the team’s .359 slugging mark ranks second … Chicago’s 16 home runs with two strikes are tied for third-most in the majors.
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 second behind Atlanta’s Ozzie Albies (12) .
TWO OUTS? SO WHAT?: The Cubs have hit 17 home runs with two outs in an inning, tied for second-most in the majors with Minnesota and trailing only Tampa Bay (20) … Chicago’s .273 batting average (87-for-319) with two outs is second-best in the majors behind Philadelphia (.281).
Patrick Wisdom’s six two-out home runs lead the majors … Cody Bellinger is batting .308 (8-for-26) with two homers and four RBI with two outs in an inning.
Starting Pitcher – #19 RHP Hayden Wesneski (2-1, 5.24)
Last Time Out
Hayden earned his second win of the season April 27 vs. San Diego, marking his second start of the campaign allowing only one run (also April 17 at Oakland) … completed at least 5.0 innings, allowing one run or fewer for the sixth time in his career.
Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
4/27 SD W, 5-2 5.0 4 1 1 1 3 74-46 4-1
2023 Splits and Season Notes
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
Home 1-1 7.59 3 3 10.2 15 11 9 6 4
Road 1-0 3.09 2 2 11.2 11 4 4 2 11
AVG vs. LHB: .308 (12-for-39) / AVG vs. RHB: .280 (14-for-50)
Hayden will make his sixth start of the 2023 campaign today, his third at on the road … has allowed three runs or fewer in three-straight starts since April 17, posting a 2.76 ERA (5 ER/16.1 IP) during the run … has a career 4.02 ERA (14 ER/31.1 IP) at Wrigley Field, compared to a 2.63 ERA (7 ER/24.0 IP) on the road.
Earned his first win of the season, tossing a career high-tying 7.0 innings, allowing one run while striking out seven April 17 at Oakland.
Went 3-1 with a 2.12 ERA (4 ER/17.0 IP) and 22 strikeouts in five Cactus League starts … did not allow a run in his first 11.2 IP of the spring before surrendering his first runs in his fourth start of Spring Training.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS NOTES:
The Nationals and Cubs will play seven times this season (4 in D.C., 3 in CHC)…Nationals manager Dave Martinez served as the Cubs bench coach from 2015-17 and also made his Major League debut with the Cubs in 1986, going on to play four seasons with them (1986-88, 2000)…Bullpen coach Henry Blanco served as Chicago’s quality assurance coach from 2015-17 and played for the Cubs from 2005-08…Pitching coach Jim Hickey served the same role with the Cubs in (2017-18)…President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo is a Chicago native…He attended Holy Cross High School in River Grove, IL…Trevor Williams opened the 2021 season with the Cubs before being traded to the Mets…Carl Edwards Jr. spent five seasons (2015-19) as a member of the Cubs… Jeimer Candelario made his MLB debut with the
Cubs in 2016…Cubs catcher Yan Gomes spent three seasons (2019-21) in D.C. and caught the final out of the 2019 World Series.
MOVING ON
The Washington Nationals dropped the first game of this four-game series with the Chicago Cubs, 5-1, on Monday night.
• Lane Thomas clubbed his first home run of the season, while Dominic Smith recorded his first three-hit game of the season, going 3-for-3 with a double.
SPEAKING OF DOM
Dominic Smith is 6-for-12 (.500) with one double, one homer, one RBI and two runs scored over his last three games…He’s struck out just once over this stretch.
• Over his last nine games, Smith is hitting .306 (11-for-36) with a .342 on-base percentage and a .444 slugging percentage (2 2B, HR).
• He is one of three National League first baseman to accumulate two defensive runs saved along with Arizona’s Christian Walker (2) and Pittsburgh’s Carlos Santana (2), per FanGraphs.com.
LET’S TALK ABOUT LUIS
Luis García is hitting .263/.317/.439 in 15 games dating to April 14…He has five walks and just six strikeouts in 63 plate appearances over this stretch…This comes after he opened the season hitting .179/.172/.214 with no walks in his first eight games.
• García is 6-for-18 (.333) with a double, triple, four RBI, one stolen base and three runs scored over his last five games.
• The left-hander is 7-for-20 (.350) with a double, triple, homer, four RBI and just two strikeouts against left-handed pitching this season.
NO Ks HERE
Thanks to Keibert Ruiz (2nd, 6.8%), Luis García (4th, 8.7%) and Victor Robles (20th, 13.4%), the Nationals have three players in the top 20 in MLB in strikeout rate…The Nationals are one of two teams with more than two players (Boston).
• As a team, the Nationals have the lowest strikeout rate in Major League Baseball (18.2%) and the fewest strikeouts (194) ahead of the New York Mets (217).
DEFENSE NOT RESTING
Thanks to strong infield defense so far this season, Nationals opponents have a .225 batting average on ground balls, sixth-best in the National League (MLB avg: .244)…In 2022, the Nationals had the third-highest opponents’ batting average on ground balls in Major League Baseball (.260).
• Washington has turned 28 double plays this season, tied for second in Major League Baseball.
• Third baseman Jeimer Candelario is tied for second among National League third basemen (w/Nolan Arenado) in defensive runs saved (3), according to FanGraphs.com…He trails only Pittsburgh’s Ke’Bryan Hayes (6).
BACKSTOP BAT
Keibert Ruiz is hitting .321 (18-for-56) with two doubles, a home run, five RBI, three walks and four runs scored in his last 14 games….Ruiz has just one strikeout in 60 plate appearances across these 14 games.
HE’S HEATING UP
Joey Meneses is hitting .310/.341/.402 with five doubles, one homer, nine RBI, four walks and five runs scored over his last 19 games. • Meneses is one of six players in Major League Baseball with at least two separate four-hit games this season.
• He leads the Nationals with a .370 average with runners in scoring position.
STARTING PITCHER – #32 TREVOR WILLIAMS
Veteran right-handed starter signed a two-year contract with the Nationals in Dec. 2022…From 2018-21, Williams was exclusively a starter, but he transitioned to a versatile swingman in 2021 and 2022…He is 35-41 with a 4.33 ERA in 118 career starts and 3-3 with a 3.84 ERA in 41 relief outings…Was a second-round pick of the Miami Marlins in 2013 but was traded to Pittsburgh in 2015 while pitching in the Arizona Fall League.
LAST START
Allowed four earned runs on nine hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 5.0 innings on April 27 at New York (NL)…Williams has worked at least 5.0 innings in all five of his starts this
seasons.
vs. CHICAGO (NL)
Faces one of his former clubs for the second consecutive start…Made two extended relief appearances against them in 2022…Recorded his first career save on July 14, 2022 at Chicago (3.0 IP, 3 H, 4 SO)… Tossed 4.1 innings of four-hit, one-run ball with eight strikeouts on Sept. 14 at Citi Field…Williams has pitched to a 2.04 ERA (4 ER/17.2 IP) with a .212 opponents’ average in his last four outings against the Cubs dating to 2020.
RECENCY BIAS
Williams is 1-0 with a 3.80 ERA (9 ER/21.1 IP), a .268 opponents’ batting average and a 1.27 WHIP over his last four starts.
