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
OPEN AND SHUT CASE: Mike Tauchman had three hits and three RBI, Nico Hoerner had two RBI, Dansby Swanson had two hits and a RBI and four hurlers, including 5.0 shutout frames from Drew Smyly last night combined to shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0 in the first of a three-game set at PNC Park.
The Cubs now have eight shutouts this season, the most in the N.L. and thirdmost in the majors behind only Tampa Bay (9) and Toronto (9) … Chicago had 11 shutouts in 2022.
In the first four games against Pittsburgh this season, the Cubs have scored 36 runs on 49 hits (just two of those home runs), 21 walks and four hit by pitches … this marks the first time the team has scored at least 36 runs in its first four games against a team since 2016 when Chicago scored 38 runs in its first four contests against the Reds that season … thanks to Elias.
TUACHING THE TAUCH, WALKING THE WALK: Mike Tauchman in his last nine games since June 10 has hit .364 (12-for-33) with 10 runs scored, two doubles, a homer, seven RBI, six walks and a .450 OBP.
‘STRO SHOW: Marcus Stroman in his last six starts since May 19 has posted a 1.51 ERA (7 ER/41.2 IP) and allowed one home run in 158 batters faced … he has produced a 0.86 WHIP in this stretch with all six outings being quality starts.
CURRENT EVENTS: Following a 3-1 setback June 8 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 8-2 and erased 4.0 games from the standings, currently 3.5 games behind the Reds (38-35).
Chicago is four-games over .500 (12-8) in its last 20 games starting May 29.
This is the 18th contest (10-7) 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 this weekend.
The Cubs are the only N.L. Central Division club with a positive run differential (+17) … Pittsburgh is at -32, Milwaukee -24, Cincinnati -18 and St. Louis -13.
FLEXING MUSCLES: Christopher Morel on Sunday 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 .684 slugging percentage ranks second in the majors behind Shohei Ohtani (.729), while his 13 home runs are tied for third, his 1.028 OPS ranks seventh and his 29 RBI are tied for eighth.
ALL GOOD THINGS…: Dansby Swanson’s throwing error in last night’s seventh inning spanned a stretch of 54 errorless games since his previous miscue on April 19 … the 54-game run is tied for the second-longest since 1901 by a Cubs shortstop with Don Kessinger in 1969 … Mick Kelleher went 60-straight games at shortstop without a miscue, spanning the 1976-79 campaigns.
Swanson’s 2.7 WAR leads N.L. shortstops and is third among all shortstops, according to Fangraphs … Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco has a 3.3 WAR and Toronto’s Bo Bichette is sporting a 2.8 WAR.
HOMETOWN HAPP: Pittsburgh native Ian Happ enters tonight’s game having reached base safely in each of his last 35 games against the Pirates dating to April 10 of 2021 … he’s batted .344 (45-for-131) with 13 doubles, one triple, five homers, 26 RBI, 19 walks and a 1.007 OPS during the stretch.
Moreover, Happ has reached base safely in each of his last 44 starts against the Pirates dating to July 31, 2020.
SERIES STUFF: The Cubs have won three-straight series at San Francisco (2-1), vs. Pittsburgh (3-0) and vs. Baltimore (2-1) … the club aims to win four-straight series for the second time this season … they won four-straight April 7-19 vs. Texas (2-1), vs. Seattle (2-1), at Dodgers (2-1) and at Oakland (3-0).
STARTING STUFF: Cubs starting pitchers have posted a 3.88 ERA (165 ER/382.2 IP) this season, the top mark among N.L. starting rotations and fifth-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 32 quality starts, second-most in the N.L. behind San Diego (33) and seventh-most in baseball.
WHAT A RELIEF: Chicago’s bullpen has posted a 2.83 ERA (11 ER/35.0 IP) in the last 11 games since June 8, holding the opponent scoreless in seven of those outings … the ‘pen has averaged 10.03 strikeouts per 9.0 innings (39 SO) in this stretch.
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 1.05 ERA (3 ER/25.2 IP) with one win and allowed 21 hits and 11 walks with 39 strikeouts in 26 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).
BASEBALL SAVANT POINTS OUT…: Cubs rightfielder Seiya Suzuki ranks in the 93rd percentile of average exit velocity this season at a 92.7 mph mark … Suzuki’s 52.8
percent hard-hit rate ranks in the 94th percentile of all players … on the other side of the ball, Suzuki’s outfielder jumps rank in the 95th percentile of players.
Starting Pitcher – #0 RHP Marcus Stroman (8-4, 2.45)
Last Time Out
Marcus earned a win in his sixth-consecutive start, the longest stretch in a single-season in his career … has allowed two or fewer runs in six-straight starts since May 19, pitching to a 1.51 ERA (7 ER/41.2 IP) during the run, the second-lowest ERA in the N.L. and third-lowest in the majors … the outing marked his MLB-high 13th quality start of the season.
Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
6/9 @SF W, 3-2 6.2 6 2 2 4 5 91-56 3-1, 1 on
2023 Splits and Season Notes
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
Home 5-3 2.25 8 8 52.0 29 13 13 15 47
Road 3-1 2.72 7 7 39.2 33 13 12 18 31
AVG vs. LHB: .177 (31-for-175) / AVG vs. RHB: .206 (31-for-150)
Marcus is scheduled to make his team-high 16th start of the 2023 season today, his eighth on the road and second vs. Pittsburgh … has earned a win in six-straight starts, the longest active streak in the major leagues and longest by a Cubs starting pitcher since Kyle Hendricks earned a win in eight-straight starts, May 16-June 22, 2021 … dating to Aug. 30, 2022, has allowed two runs or fewer in 18 of his last 22 starts, pitching to a 2.36 ERA (35 ER/133.2 IP), the lowest ERA in the majors during that span (min. 22 GS) … his 13 quality starts lead the major leagues this season and his 22 such outings since the All-Star break of last season are the most in the N.L. … his .177 average allowed (31-for-175) against left-handed hitters is the third-lowest among N.L. starters … his 1.04 WHIP and .191 average against (62-for325) are the lowest among qualified N.L. starters, while his 2.42 ERA ranks first and his 91.2 IP ranks fourth.
Was named the N.L. Player of the Week for May 29-June 4 … allowed one run (no earned runs) on five hits in 15.0 innings with 14 strikeouts in two starts during
the week, earning a win in both outings.
May 29 vs. Tampa Bay tossed his second career complete game shutout (also Sept. 8, 2014 vs. Cubs), the Cubs first complete game since Alec Mills’ no-hitter, Sept. 13, 2020 at Milwaukee … took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning for the second time in his career (also July 24, 2014 vs. Boston).
Recorded his 1,000th career strikeout April 23 vs. Los Angeles (N.L.), retiring Freddie Freeman looking in the third inning.
Became the second Cubs starting pitcher since 1901 (also Jake Arrieta, 2016) with three outings of at least 6.0 scoreless innings in the team’s first 16 games.
Became the third Cubs starting pitcher since 1901 to allow two or fewer combined runs over his first four starts of a season (also Steve Stone, 1976; Jason Hammel, 2016).
Posted a 14.0-inning scoreless streak to begin the season, the fourth-longest by a Cubs pitcher since 1901.
Made his third career Opening Day start March 30 vs. Milwaukee (0 ER/6.0 IP), earning the win … improved to 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA (3 ER/21.0 IP) in his three career Opening Day starts.
In three Cactus League starts with the Cubs, went 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA (1 ER/10.0 IP) and 10 strikeouts.
Made two starts for Team Puerto Rico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, posting a 3.00 ERA (3 ER/9.0 IP).
PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES:..opened their three-game homestand with an 8-0 loss last night…Have lost a season-high tying seven straight games (also lost 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 Reds in the National League Central.
ROSTER MOVE: The Pittsburgh Pirates today recalled outfielder Cal Mitchell from Triple-A Indianapolis…Right-handed pitcher Yohan Ramirez was optioned to Indianapolis to make room for Mitchell on the 26-man active roster…Mitchell will wear uniform No. 31.
MITCHELL’S 2023 IN REVIEW: Cal Mitchell was hitting .276 with 13 doubles, seven home runs and 42 RBI in 64 games with Indianapolis at the time of his promotion today…The 24-year-old Mitchell ranked second among all Pirates minor leaguers with 42 RBI, trailing only Greensboro’s Jase Bowen (47)…Mitchell also ranked fifth in total bases (96) among all Pirates minor leaguers this season coming into today (Henry Davis was fourth with 99).
OH HENRY: Last night Henry Davis became the 11th Pirate since 1984 to record an extra base hit in his first career plate appearance…Prior to Davis, Canaan Smith-Njigba was the last Pirate to record an extra base hit in his first career plate appearance after doubling on June 14, 2022, at St. Louis…Davis was also the first Pirate to do so at PNC Park since Pedro Ciriaco on September 8, 2010.
KEEPING UP WITH THE JARED JONES’: Right-handed pitcher Jared Jones was promoted today from Double-A Altoona to Triple-A Indianapolis…The 20-year-old Jones is currently rated 89th among Baseball America’s updated top 100 prospect list…Jones, who was selected in the second round of the 2020 First-Year Player Draft, went 1-4 with a 2.23 ERA (44.1ip/11er), 47 strikeouts and .201 batting average against in 10 starts this season with the Curve.
CASHING IN AT PNC: Ke’Bryan Hayes has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games at PNC Park, going 20-for-45 (.444) with three doubles, a triple, two home runs, nine RBI and 1.133 OPS…Hayes ranks sixth among all National League players this season with a .326 home batting average.
O YEAH: Johan Oviedo has registered a 2.88 ERA (25.0ip/8er) in his last four home starts dating back to his win on May 19 against the Diamondbacks…Opposing hitters have hit just .178 and have struck out 22 times against Oviedo in that span.
THERE’S A FIRST FOR EVERYTHING: With last night’s 8-0 loss against the Cubs, the Pirates dropped their first home game against a National League Central opponent this season (had won their first seven)… Pittsburgh swept a four-game set against the Reds from April 20-23 before claiming all three games in a series against the Cardinals from June 2-4…The Pirates have yet to host the Brewers, who will come to town during the next homestand from June 30-July 2.
43 BUCS: Monday night Ryan Borucki and Henry Davis became the 42nd and 43rd different players to appear in a game this season for the Pirates…The Angels have used the most players this season in MLB (47) while the Nationals have suited up a Major League low 33 players.
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 on Monday, Davis ranked third among Pittsburgh’s full-season minor leaguers in OPS and slugging, fourth in batting and tied for second in home runs.
STARTING PITCHER – 24 – RHP JOHAN OVIEDO
JOHAN OVIEDO: The 25-year-old righthander is making his 15th start of the season tonight…He lost a 7-2 decision in his last start Thursday at Wrigley Field.
vs. CHICAGO (NL): 1-3 with a 4.38 ERA (37.0ip/18er) in eight appearances (seven starts)…0-1 in 2023 after losing a 7-2 decision at Wrigley on 6/15…Made three appearances (two starts) in 2022…Allowed three runs in 5.0 innings and lost a 6-1 decision in his start on 6/4 at Wrigley…He also tossed 7.0 scoreless innings while winning a 6-0 decision on 9/24 as a Pirate.
