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MLB Preview: Chicago Cubs (26-33) at Los Angeles Angels (31-30)

CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:

The Cubs and the Angels play each other for the first time since 2019 (2-1) and the first time at Los Angeles since 2016 (2-0) … in all, the teams have faced off in seven series since 2004, four at Wrigley Field (6-4) and three at Angel Stadium (5-2) … Chicago is undefeated in road series against the Angels, including a sweep and a split.

NEXT STOP, LOS ANGELES: The Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Angels today open a three-game series at Angel Stadium, the second leg of a three-series 10-game trip (2-2) that sees the Cubs visit San Diego (4 games), Anaheim (3 games) and San Francisco (June 9-11, 3 games).

Chicago yesterday fell to the Padres 5-0, earning the four-game series-split … Kyle Hendricks in his third outing of the season suffered his second loss, allowing four runs on six hits with four strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work … Trey Mancini played played in his 800th career game … Ian Happ reached base three times, going 1-for-2 with two walks.

In a stretch that began Friday, the Cubs play 15 of 21 games on the road (2-2), wrapping up in London April 24-25 “at” St. Louis … eight of those games come against division rivals – six against Pittsburgh (3 at home, 3 on the road) and the two games of the London Series.

After the game on April 21, Chicago was 12-7 and 1.5 games behind the division lead … since, the club is 14-26 and enters today 6.0 games behind the division-leading Pirates, sitting at 32-27.

INTERLEAGUE INTERLUDE: With MLB’s new schedule format for the 2023 season, the Cubs will play every A.L. club this regular season, totaling 46 games … Chicago is 10-8 this season, and 226-227 (.499) all-time against the A.L. since interleague play began in 1997 … the team was 6-14 (.300) in interleague play last season.

Against the A.L. West this season, the Cubs are 7-5, including a three-game sweep of the Oakland A’s.

In seven appearances against A.L. clubs this season, Adbert Alzolay has not allowed a run (10.1 IP) … Seiya Suzuki leads Cubs hitters (min. 3 G) with a .474 batting average, including three double, four homers and eight RBI.

Patrick Wisdom ranks ninth among Cubs hitters all-time against A.L. teams with 14 home runs and Ian Happ ranks 10th with 43 RBI … Kyle Hendricks leads Cubs pitchers all-time in quality starts against the A.L. (18).

WALK, DON’T RUN: Chicago’s starting pitching have given up just 89 walks this season, the sixth-fewest free passes by starting staffs in the majors and third-fewest in the N.L., behind the Giants (81) and the Dodgers (84) … on the other side of the ball, Cubs hitters have tied for the sixth-most walks off starters in the majors with 118.

The Cubs ranks third in the majors with 220 total walks … the Dodgers lead with 254 and the Padres rank second with 246.

Ian Happ ranks fourth in the N.L. with 41 free passes, fifth most in the majors. ALL ABOARD THE BASES: Chicago’s .328 on-base percentage ranks fifth in the National League … however, the Northsiders have the second-most left on base in the majors with 436, trailing only Toronto (455).

Ian Happ ranks eighth in OBP (.389) among qualified N.L. hitters with Dansby Swanson at 15th (.364)

In Mike Tauchman’s 15 games since being recalled May 19, he has posted a .438 on-base percentage, which is good for seventh-highest in the majors in that span (min. 15 G).

(START)ING OFF RIGHT: Cubs starters in their last seven games dating to May 29 have pitched to a 2.01 ERA (9 ER/40.1 IP) and allowed 27 hits (.188 opp. avg.) with 10 walks and 29 strikeouts, contributing to a 0.92 WHIP … in the team’s previous 14 games from May 13-28, the starters posted a 6.65 ERA (51 ER/69.0 IP) with a .289 opponent average and 1.45 WHIP.

Since May 29, Cubs starters rank third in ERA, WHIP and opponent average.

Cubs pitchers are tied for second in the N.L. with 26 quality starts … Marcus Stroman picked up his major league-leading 11th quality start Sunday.

DANSBY DOES DEFENSE: Dansby Swanson’s 2.5 WAR leads National League shortstops, trailing Wander Franco (3.1) and Bo Bichette (2.7) for third in the majors, according to FanGraphs … he ranks third in the majors in assists (152) and his eight outs-above-average are tied for the lead among major league infielders (also Ke’Bryan Hayes, PIT … cc: Baseball Savant).

Swanson has gone 42-consecutive games at shortstop since April 20 without committing an error (149 TC) … according to fangraphs, his eight defensive runs saved rank second among major league shortstops (Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco has nine).

SOFT CONTACT: Cubs pitchers’ 36.5% hard-hit rate is the second-lowest percentage in the majors, trailing only San Diego (35.9%) … the staff has also allowed the third-lowest average exit velocity at 88.1 mph, behind the Angels (88.0 mph) and the Padres (87.9 mph).

SUNSHINE AND MERRYWEATHER IN THE FORECAST: Julian Merryweather since April 17 has pitched to a 1.47 ERA (3 ER/18.1 IP) with one win and allowed 16 hits and eight walks with 26 strikeouts in 19 appearances … in that span, he ranks fifth in ERA, sixth in strikeout percentage (33.3%) and tied for sixth in strikeouts per 9.0 innings (12.76) among N.L. pitchers (min. 19 G)

LOS ANGELES ANGELS NOTES:

LEADING OFF: Happy 33rd Birthday to Anthony Rendon!…Today, the Angels play the first of six games on a homestand against the Chicago Cubs (June 6-8) and Seattle Mariners (June 9-11)…Halos went 3-4 on last road trip against the Chicago White Sox (2-1) and Houston Astros (1-3)…LAA was 5-4 on last homestand against the Minnesota Twins (2-1), Boston Red Sox (3- 0) and Miami Marlins (0-3).

TODAY’S TRANSACTIONS: Today the Angels reinstated INF Anthony Rendon from the injured list…He missed 21 games on the IL with a left groin strain…In a corresponding move, INF Livan Soto was optioned to Double-A Rocket City.

BACK ABOVE .500: With a 31-30 record, Halos are back above the .500 mark on the season and are looking to avoid falling back to exactly .500 for a 12th time (previously 1-1, 5-5, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10, 11-11, 12-12, 14-14, 22-22 & 30-30).

BRINGING THE HEAT: RHP Ben Joyce made his Major League debut last Monday at White Sox, working one scoreless inning with two strikeouts…Across his three appearances, 48 of 53 pitches have been at 100+ MPH…In the Statcast era (since 2015), only Shohei Ohtani (70) has thrown more pitches at 100+ MPH for the Angels.

VS. CHICAGO (N.L.): Today is the first of three games for the Angels this season against the Chicago Cubs… The series marks the first meetings between the teams since 2019 and the Cubs first visit to Angel Stadium since the first two games of the 2016 regular season…
Halos are 6-11 all-time vs. Cubs (2-5 at Angel Stadium)… The six wins are the fewest vs. any opponent.

DINGER DUO: Wednesday at Chicago (A.L.) was the 27th time that Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani homered in the same game…It’s the third highest total among duos in Angels history (trails only Trout/Pujols – 48 games & Salmon/Anderson – 28 games).

JUST MET A GUY NAMED BARRIA: Since April 8, Jaime Barria leads the Majors (min. 20 IP) with a 0.59 ERA (30.1 IP – 2 ER)…He made his second start of the season Wednesday at White Sox and earned the win (has also made 11 appearances from Angels bullpen this year).

LEAGUE LEADER: Shohei Ohtani, leads the Majors in opponent batting average (.175) and ranks third in strikeouts (96).

PLAY FROM AHEAD: Halos have held leads in 48 of 61 games played this year.

LEAD ASSISTANT: Hunter Renfroe is tied for second in the American League with five outfield assists this season…Since 2017, his 61 outfield assists lead the Majors (Starling Marte is second with 52 assists).

THE MICK: Mickey Moniak is one of three players in the Majors with at least three leadoff HR this year, along with Mookie Betts (5) and Christian Yelich (3)… On May 13 at Cleveland, became the first player in MLB history to make his season debut on his birthday and hit a leadoff home run.

LATE COMEBACKS: Halos have three wins this season when trailing after eight innings, which matches the Angels total from each of the last two seasons…Last time LAA had more than three wins in a season when trailing after eight frames was 2017 (5).

ESTÉVEZ ENDING: This season, Carlos Estévez is pitching to a 1.42 ERA (25.1 IP – 4 ER) and has converted all 14 of his save opportunities (the 14 saves are a new career high)…He is the first Angels pitcher to convert his first 14 save opportunities of a season since Troy Percival had 16 straight successful save opportunities to begin the 2001 season.

CATCHING ON: This season, Angels catchers are tied for third with 10 home runs and rank fifth in the Majors with a .773 OPS.

SINGLE HANDED: Gio Urshela has hit 51 singles this year plus 11 extra-base hits (eight doubles, one triple & two home runs)…Urshela ranks second, behind Toronto’s Bo Bichette (63), for the American League lead in singles…Since May 5, Urshela ranks second in the American League with a .347 (33/95) batting average in that span.

NET-OW: Zack Neto has been hit by 11 pitches this season, which is second-most in the Majors…Since 1901, he is tied for the fewest career games played (45) when reaching 11 career HBP (also, Tim Locastro for Dodgers/D-backs from 2017-19).

BACHMAN IN THE SHOW: Sam Bachman made his MLB debut on May 26 vs. Miami with 2.0 innings pitched in relief…The Angels first round pick (ninth overall) in the 2021 Draft, Bachman is currently rated by MLB Pipleline as the #4 prospect in the Halos system…He is the highest drafted player from the 2021 Draft to debut and the only pitcher from the first two rounds of that Draft to appear in the Majors.

FEELS FAMILIAR: Last Tuesday night, Taylor Ward hit his second career leadoff home run…Both came at Guaranteed Rate Field off Lucas Giolito (also, 4/29/22).

UNEARNED: Angels have allowed 31 unearned runs this season, which are second-most in the Majors (Giants have allowed 33)…Halos have committed 36 fielding errors this season, which is tied for sixth-most in the Majors and is second-most in the A.L.

INTERLEAGUE PLAY: LAA owns a 267-229 (.538) all-time Interleague record (6-6 in 2023)…The 267 all-time Interleague wins are third most all time behind Red Sox (298) and Yankees (292).

TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – LHP TYLER ANDERSON
2-1, 5.47 ERA
Has allowed three-or-fewer runs in five of last six starts

  • TODAY’S GAME: Making 11th start of the season and fifth at home…Is in eighth Major League season and made seventh straight Opening Day roster…Signed a three-year contract with Angels, Nov. 16, 2022.
  • DECISIONS: Has received a winning and losing decision in last two starts after a streak of seven consecutive starts with a no-decision…The seven game streak tied for the second-longest in franchise history…Angels record streak was eight straight no-decisions by Jim McGlothlin between the 1966-67 seasons.
  • BACK ON TRACK: Pitched 6.0 scoreless innings in Angels debut on April 2 at Oakland, before allowing 5+ runs in each of next three starts…Followed that with a five start stretch with a 3.14 ERA (28.2 IP – 10 ER) and 19 strikeouts, before yielding six runs in last start at Chicago (A.L.).
  • LEFT OUT: This season, is holding left-handers to a .229 average (11/48) compared with a .306 (48/157) average against right-handers.
  • FASTBALL DAMAGE: This season, opponents are batting .304 (21/69) against his fastball, but are hitting .279 (38/136) against the rest of his arsenal.
  • LAST TIME OUT: Charged with the loss in last start on May 30 at Chicago (A.L.) after tossing 4.0 innings and allowing six earned runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts…Allowed one run through first three frames before yielding five runs in the 4th…Six runs allowed matched season high (also, Apr. 15 at BOS).
  • KEEPING IT IN THE PARK: Has allowed just one home run across last five starts, after allowing six homers in first five starts.
  • VS. CHICAGO (N.L.): In nine career starts vs. Chicago (N.L.), is 4-3 with a 3.90 ERA (55.1 IP – 24 ER) and 56 strikeouts…Made two starts vs. Cubs for Dodgers last season and went 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA (12 I P- 5 ER).
  • AT ANGEL STADIUM: Today is seventh career start at The Big A and fifth as a member of the Angels…This year, is 1-0 with a 5.57 ERA (21 IP – 13 ER) in four home starts, with the win coming in last home start on May 24 vs. Red Sox…In his two career games at Angel Stadium as a visitor, was 0-1 with an 18.00 ERA (7 IP – 14 ER); made one start for Giants in 2020 and one for Mariners in 2021.
  • HALO DEBUT: Earned the win in Angels debut on April 2 at Oakland after working 6.0 shutout frames, allowing four hits and two walks with four strikeouts.
  • THE CHANGE: Last season, held opponents to a .179 (41/229) average against his changeup, but opponents are batting .281 (16/57) this year.
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