CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:
Cubs vs. Pirates
The Cubs and Pirates play 13 games spanning four series this season … Chicago swept Pittsburgh in a three-game set June 13-15 at Wrigley Field during the first meeting between the clubs in 2023 … the Cubs have won the last eight season series against Pittsburgh dating to 2015, including a 10-9 mark in 2022.
WE MEET AGAIN: The Chicago Cubs tonight begin a five-game, seven-day road trip by squaring off in the first of a three-game set with the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park … Chicago yesterday wrapped up a six-game homestand by dropping a 6-3 contest to the Baltimore Orioles, which snapped a season-high five-game winning streak … the Cubs went 3-0 against the Pirates and 2-1 against the Orioles during the home stretch.
Yesterday, Christopher Morel (two-run HR) and Mike Tauchman (solo HR) provided the three runs for the Cubs … Tauchman hit the Cubs’ second game-opening home run of the season (also Nico Hoerner, May 30 vs. Tampa Bay).
Chicago is three-games over .500 (11-8) in its last 19 games starting May 29.
This is the 17th contest (9-7) in a stretch that began June 2 in which the Cubs play 15 of 21 games on the road … this stretch wraps up with the team’s two London Series games against against St. Louis June 24-25.
STUFF YOU SHOULD BE MADE AWARE OF: Following a 3-1 setback to complete a three-game sweep at the hands of the Angels, the Cubs found themselves a season-high tying 7.5-games back in the N.L. Central Division … since then, the team has gone 7-2 and erased 3.5 games from the standings, currently 4.0 games behind division-leading Milwaukee (37-34).
The Cubs are the only N.L. Central Division club with a positive run differential (+9) … Pittsburgh is at -24, Milwaukee -16, Cincinnati -29 and St. Louis -15.
Chicago this season has walked in 9.9 percent of its plate appearances, the third-highest percentage in baseball (San Diego, 11.0% & Dodgers, 10.8%).
IN RARIFIED AIR PART ONE: Christopher Morel yesterday hit his 13th home run in his 31st game of the season … he joined Sammy Sosa (13 in 2002), Hank Sauer (14 in 1954) and Gabby Hartnett (13 in 1925) as the fourth Cub since 1901 to hit 13 home runs in his first 31 games of a season.
Entering play today since his first game of the season in Chicago on May 9, Morel’s .700 slugging percentage ranks second in the majors behind Shohei Ohtani (.729), while his 13 home runs are tied for second, his 1.042 OPS ranks sixth and his 28 RBI are tied for seventh.
In 60 games between Triple-A Iowa and the Cubs, Morel has a 1.101 OPS, a .311 average (70-for-225), 13 doubles, three triples, 24 homers and 59 RBI.
IN RARIFIED AIR PART TWO: Dansby Swanson has gone 54-straight games at shortstop without an error dating to April 20 (185 TC) … Swanson yesterday tied Don Kessinger’s 1969 streak of 54-consecutive games at shortstop without an error (274 TC) for the second-longest errorless run by a Cub shortstop since 1901 … he trails only Mick Kelleher, who went 60-straight games at shortstop without a miscue, spanning the 1976-79 campaigns (199 TC).
Swanson’s 2.6 WAR is tied for first among N.L. shortstops with the Giants Thairo Estrada and tied for third among all shortstops, according to FanGraphs, trailing Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco (3.3) and Toronto’s Bo Bichette (2.8).
HOMETOWN HAPP: Pittsburgh native Ian Happ enters tonight’s game having reached base safely in each of his last 34 games against the Pirates dating to April 10 of 2021 … he’s batted .354 (45-for-127) with 13 doubles, one triple, five homers, 26 RBI, 18 walks and a 1.033 OPS during the stretch.
Moreover, Happ has reached base safely in each of his last 43 starts against the Pirates dating to July 31, 2020.
In 44 career games at PNC Park, Happ owns a .281 average (43-for-153) with 14 doubles, five home runs, 19 RBI, a .360 OBP and a .831 OPS.
SERIES STUFF: Chicago kicks off a three-game set in Pittsburgh having won three straight series against San Francisco (2-1), Pittsburgh (3-0) and Baltimore (2-1) … the club aims to win four-straight series for the second time this season … they also won four-straight April 7-19 vs. Texas (2-1), vs. Seattle (2-1), at Dodgers (2-1) and at Oakland (3-0).
BY THE MONTH: Chicago is 9-7 in June after finishing 10-18 in May and opening the year with a 14-13 record in March/April … here’s a look at the numbers by month:
2023 AVG OBP SLG R/G BB SO ERA IP ER BB SO
Mar/April .276 .347 .448 5.4 95 224 3.64 239.2 97 91 249
May .232 .319 .375 3.6 115 282 4.73 247.1 130 78 212
June .221 .311 .341 4.4 58 150 3.85 138.0 59 54 121
STARTING STUFF: Cubs starting pitchers have posted a 3.96 ERA (166 ER/377.2 IP) this season, the third-best mark among N.L. starting rotations (Atlanta, 3.87 and San Francisco, 3.92) and seventh-best in the majors … the rotation’s 1.21 WHIP is tied for sixth among major league teams.
Marcus Stroman leads the N.L. with a 2.45 ERA … Justin Steele’s 2.71 ERA ranks third.
Chicago has recieved 31 quality starts, tied for the second-most in the N.L. with Milwaukee (behind San Diego – 32) and tied for seventh-most in baseball.
WHAT A RELIEF: Adbert Alzolay has posted a 1.04 ERA (2 ER/17.1 IP) in his last 14 games since May 6, walking three, striking out 15 and posting a 0.81 WHIP … Julian Merryweather since April 17 has pitched to a 1.09 ERA (3 ER/24.2 IP) with one win and allowed 19 hits and 11 walks with 38 strikeouts in 25 appearances.
Mark Leiter Jr. has averaged 13.65 strikeouts per 9.0 innings (45 SO/29.2 IP), the fourth-best mark among N.L. relievers (min. 25 appearances) … Merryweather’s 12.76 strikeouts per 9.0 innings (43 SO/30.1 IP) ranks ninth.
Starting Pitcher – #11 LHP Drew Smyly (6-4, 3.59)
Last Time Out
Drew snapped his personal three-game losing streak by earning his sixth win of the season June 14 vs. Pittsburgh … tossed 6.0 innings, allowing a season-high-tying nine hits, five earned runs and a walk while striking out four … allowed a season-high three home runs … has allowed seven or more hits in four-straight starts.
Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
6/14 PIT W, 10-6 6.0 9 5 5 1 4 83-54 1-5
2023 Splits and Season Notes
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
Home 3-1 4.17 7 7 36.2 30 17 17 10 36
Road 3-3 3.07 7 7 41.0 42 18 14 11 28
AVG vs. LHB: .308 (20-for-65) / AVG vs. RHB: .225 (52-for-231)
Drew is scheduled to make his 15th start of the season today, his eighth on the road … is 1-3 with a 6.04 ERA (15 ER/22.1 IP) in his last four starts after posting a 2.13 ERA (12 ER/50.2 IP) in nine starts from April 10-May 27 … ranks in the 88th percentile of MLB in hard hit percentage allowed … opposing batters are hitting .191 (30-for-157) with 48 strikeouts against his curveball.
Completed his 1000th career inning in the first inning May 28 vs. Cincinnati.
Allowed two-or-fewer runs in nine-straight starts from April 10-May 27, posting a 2.13 ERA (12 ER/50.2 IP) during the run, the fourth-lowest ERA in the majors (min. 9 GS).
April 21 vs. Los Angeles (N.L.) retired the first 21 batters of the game, becoming the first Cub to take a perfect game bid into the eighth inning since José Guzmán (April 6, 1993 vs. Atlanta) … was the first Cub to record a start of 7.0-plus innings with one hit, no runs, no walks and at least 10 strikeouts since Kerry Wood’s 20-strikeout game (May 6, 1998 vs. Houston).
Went 0-2 with a 6.06 ERA (11 ER/16.1 IP) with a 13:2 SO:BB ratio during Cactus League play.
PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES: Have lost six straight and seven of their last eight games (lost a season-high seven straight games from 4/30 to 5/7)…Have had four separate winning streaks of at least four games this season, including a season-high seven-game winning streak from 4/17-23…Come into today in third place and 2.5 games behind the first-place Brewers in the National League Central.
ROSTER MOVE: The Pittsburgh Pirates today selected the contract of outfielder/catcher Henry Davis from Triple-A Indianapolis…Infielder Mark Mathias has been optioned to Indianapolis to make room for Davis on the 26-man active roster…Right-handed pitcher Elijah Villalobos was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
CATCH THIS: Henry Davis comes into today ranked 34th among Baseball America’s midseason top 100 prospects…The 23-year-old Davis entered 2023 rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 6 catching prospect in the game (Pittsburgh’s Endy Rodriguez was ranked as the No. 5 catching prospect by Pipeline coming into 2023).
DAVIS’ 2023 SEASON: Henry Davis hit a combined .284 with 10 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs, 30 RBI, .433 OBP, .541 slugging percentage and .974 OPS in 51 games this season between Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis…He made a total of 34 starts behind the plate, 13 in right field and four as a designated hitter between the two stops…At the time he was promoted to the big leagues, Davis ranked third among Pittsburgh’s full-season minor leaguers in OPS and slugging, fourth in batting and tied for second in home runs.
FEELING THE DRAFT: Today’s promotion of 2021 No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis will mark the second time in four days that the Pirates have added a player from the first two drafts under General Manager Ben Cherington to the Major League roster…In addition to Davis, right-handed pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski made his big league debut Friday night…Mlodzinski was picked 31st overall in the 2020 First-Year Player Draft with the Competitive Balance A round selection.
PIT STOP: Tonight the Pirates begin a brief three-game homestand against the Cubs…Pittsburgh will return to the road Thursday night for a four-game road trip at Miami that will conclude a stretch that has the team playing 10 of 13 games on the road.
THE BEAR FACTS: This series will end a stretch that has the Pirates playing the Cubs six times in nine games…In addition to this series, the Bucs will also host the Cubs in a four-game series from August 24-27… The Pirates went 5-5 against the Cubs at PNC Park in 2022, meeting for the last time in a four-game series from September 22-25.
TAKE TWO: Osvaldo Bido will make the second start of his big league career tonight after making his debut Wednesday at Wrigley Field…Bido struck out six batters while allowing one run in 4.0 innings in a no decision…He became the seventh different pitcher to start a game this season for the Pirates.
AGAINST LEFTIES: Rodolfo Castro ranks fifth in all of MLB with a 1.092 OPS against left-handed pitchers (he also ranks seventh in all of MLB with a .662 slugging percentage against southpaws)…Carlos Santana is a .348 career hitter with two doubles and two homers lifetime off Cubs starter Drew Smyly…Bryan Reynolds is 8-for-21 lifetime off Smyly, while Andrew McCutchen has taken Smyly deep three times.
MAKE THAT A DOUBLE: Carlos Santana doubled in his first at-bat of the game yesterday off Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta at American Family Field…Santana now has 350 doubles in his career, one of 21 Dominican-born players to accomplish that.
CARLOS SANTANA’S HITS: Carlos Santana went 1-for-4 with a double yesterday and is now 7-for-19 in his last five games…Santana’s 1587 hits are the most among all active switch hitters.
STARTING PITCHER – 70 – RHP OSVALDO BIDO
OSVALDO BIDO: The 27-year-old righthander will make his second big league start tonight after being promoted from Indianapolis on Wednesday…He went 3-4 with a 4.55 ERA in 12 appearances (10 starts) this season at Indianapolis…Was signed by the Pirates as a non-drafted free agent on 3/15/17…Has gone 27-42 with a 4.40 ERA (529.2ip/259er) in 121 appearances (108 starts) since making his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League in 2017.
VS. CHICAGO (NL): 0-0 in one career start…He allowed one run in 4.0 innings while striking out six batters in a no-decision on 6/14 in his big league debut at Wrigley Field.
