CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:
Cubs vs. Pirates
The Cubs and Pirates play 13 games spanning four series this season … Chicago swept Pittsburgh in a threegame 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
SO NICE, WE DID IT TWICE: Marcus Stroman last night spun 7.0 shutout innings to help the Chicago Cubs to a 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team’s second-straight shutout of Pittsburgh after winning Monday’s series opener, 8-0 … this marks the first time the Cubs have recorded consecutive shutouts since May 16-17 of last season vs. the Pirates … it’s the first time the Cubs have turned the trick on the road since April 16-17, 2019, at Miami.
Chicago last recorded three-straight shutouts July 21-24, 1992 at Houston (1 G) and at Cincinnati (2 G).
The Cubs now have nine shutouts this season, the most in the N.L. and tied for second in the majors behind Toronto (10) … Chicago had 11 shutouts in 2022.
A FAMILIAR, YET UNFAMILIAR, FOE: The Cubs today face veteran southpaw Rich Hill, who broke into the majors with Chicago in four major league seasons from 2005-08 … since departing Chicago, Hill has faced the Cubs just five times in 15 seasons, going 1-1 with a 2.49 ERA (7 ER/25.1 IP) — he last faced Chicago July 1 of last season while with the Red Sox, allowing three runs in 4.2 innings in a 6-5 Cubs victory.
FIRST THING FIRST: The Cubs have scored first in each of their last five games, winning four of those, after doing so in just four of their previous 12 games from June 3-15 … Chicago is 21-15 in 36 contests in which its scored first.
FROM THE NINE HOLE: Tucker Barnhart last night belted a solo homer from the number nine spot in the lineup, the team’s seventh long ball from the ninth spot of the lineup this season … Cubs nine-hole hitters have a .337 OBP, the second-highest mark among teams’ nine-hole hitters this season (Seattle, .361).
LONDON CALLING: Following today’s game, the Cubs will head over the pond to London for a two-game set at London Stadium against the St. Louis Cardinals this Saturday and Sunday … this will be the first time the Cubs play a regular season game in London, but not their first time playing games in Great Britain … during the 1888-89 offseason, the Cubs (then known as the White Stockings) and a select team, called the All-Americans, participated in an around-the-world baseball tour that included games in England.
London Stadium will be the 127th ballpark in which the Cubs will have played a regular season game … Chicago is 65-60-1 in debut games at ballparks … the team has played games in 23 states within the US, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, two Canadian Provinces (Quebec, Ontario) and Japan (Tokyo).
Mike Tauchman is the lone current Cub to have played in London before, having done so with the Yankees in 2019.
TAUCHING THE TAUCH, WALKING THE WALK: Mike Tauchman in his last 10 games since June 10 has hit .342 (13-for-38) with 11 runs scored, two doubles, two homers, eight RBI, six walks and a .422 OBP.
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 9-2 and erased 4.0 games from the standings, currently 3.5 games behind the Reds (39-35).
Chicago is five-games over .500 (13-8) in its last 21 games starting May 29.
This is the 19th contest (11-7) 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 (+21) … Pittsburgh is at -36, Milwaukee -22, Cincinnati -16 and St. Louis -7.
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 .661 slugging percentage ranks third in the majors behind Shohei Ohtani (.729) and Corey Seager (.692), while his 13 home runs are tied for third, his .994 OPS ranks eighth and his 29 RBI are tied for eighth.
HE’S A WINNER!: Dansby 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 3.4 WAR and Toronto’s Bo Bichette is sporting a 2.8 WAR.
HOMETOWN HAPP: Pittsburgh native Ian Happ enters today’s game having reached base safely in each of his last 36 games against the Pirates dating to April 10 of 2021 … he’s batted .348 (47-for-135) with 13 doubles, two triples, five homers, 26 RBI, 19 walks and a 1.021 OPS during the stretch. © Moreover, Happ has reached base safely in each of his last 45 starts against the Pirates dating to July 31, 2020.
SERIES STUFF: The Cubs have won four-straight series at San Francisco (2-1), vs. Pittsburgh (3-0), vs. Baltimore (2-1) and here against the Pirates … this matches the team’s season-high series winning streak, also done 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 3.81 ERA (165 ER/389.2 IP) this season, the top mark among N.L. starting rotations and fifth-best in the majors … the rotation’s 1.20 WHIP is seventh among major league teams.
Marcus Stroman leads the N.L. with a 2.28 ERA … Justin Steele’s 2.71 ERA ranks third.
Starting Pitcher – #28 RHP Kyle Hendricks (2-2, 2.86)
Last Time Out
Kyle earned a win in his second-straight start June 16 vs. Baltimore … is 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA (2 ER/13.0 IP) in his last two starts … has walked just one batter in his last three starts since June 5 … recorded his 10th career interleague victory, the third-most in Cubs franchise history behind Jon Lester (16) and Jake Arrieta (13).
Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
6/16 BAL W, 10-3 5.0 5 2 2 0 1 88-63 3-2
2023 Splits and Season Notes
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
Home 1-1 3.77 3 3 14.1 17 8 6 5 9
Road 1-1 2.57 2 2 14.0 7 4 4 1 7
AVG vs. LHB: .190 (12-for-63) / AVG vs. RHB: .256 (11-for-43)
Kyle will make his sixth start of the 2023 campaign, his third on the road … has tossed at least 6.0 innings in both of his road starts this season … has walked just one batter in his last three outings after walking five across his first two starts of 2023 … his 26 career starts against the Pirates are his second-most vs. any opponent (Milwaukee – 31), while his eight wins are his third-most (St. Louis – 13, Milwaukee – 10) … has held opponents to a .164 average (9-for-55) with 11 strikeouts against his changeup.
June 10 in San Francisco, carried a no-hit bid into the eighth inning … the 7.2 IP no-hit bid was the second-longest of his career (Sept. 12, 2016 at St. Louis, 8.0 IP).
Became the 12th pitcher in Cubs history to pitch for the Cubs in at least 10 season (last Kerry Wood).
Made his season debut May 25 vs. Mets (3 ER/4.1 IP), his first major league start since July 5, 2022.
Made five rehab starts with Triple-A Iowa, going 2-1 with a 5.75 ERA (13 ER/20.1 IP) … allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last three rehab starts, posting a 1.69 ERA (3 ER/16.0 IP) during those outings.
Began the season on the 15-day injured list, as he rehabbed from a capsular tear in his right shoulder that he suffered in July 2022.
PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES: Were shut out Tuesday for the second straight night…Have lost a season-high eight straight games…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 fourth place and 4.0 games behind the first-place Reds in the National League Central.
ABOUT TODAY’S STARTER: Rich Hill gets the start this afternoon in the finale of this brief three-game homestand against the Cubs…Hill has won each of his last two starts at PNC Park, allowing a total of three runs in 13.2 innings on June 4 against the Cardinals and June 9 against the Mets.
THE BEAR FACTS: Today will be the sixth career appearance (fifth start) against the Cubs for Rich Hill…Hill made his Major League debut with the Cubs on June 15, 2005, vs. the Florida Marlins, allowing two runs in 1.0 inning of relief in a game started by Chicago’s Greg Maddux…The Cubs were opposed that game by Marlins starter A.J. Burnett, who allowed five runs in 6.2 innings while earning the win in a 15-5 final where the two teams combined for 32 hits.
RICH ON THE HILL: Rich Hill comes into today ranked sixth in all of MLB with 269 called strikes according to Baseball Savant…According to Baseball Savant, the only five pitchers with more called strikes this season are Logan Webb (301), Mitch Keller (283), Shane Bieber (279), Gerrit Cole (272) and Aaron Nola (271).
THE MEN BEHIND THE MASK: The Pirates come into today as the only team in MLB with two catchers ranked in the top 10 in catcher framing runs according to Baseball Savant…Austin Hedges ranks first according to Baseball Savant with eight while Texas’ Jonah Heim ranks second with seven…Jason Delay ranks 10th among all backstops in MLB in catcher framing runs with three.
CATCH THIS: Pittsburgh’s backstops rank second in all of MLB in Catcher Defensive Runs Above Average with 15.6…Atlanta leads all of MLB in that department with 15.7.
END OF THE ROAD: Pittsburgh will depart for Miami tonight to begin a four-game road trip tomorrow night against the Marlins…The series will wrap up a stretch of the Pirates playing 10 of 13 games on the road.
A QUALITY PERFORMANCE: Tuesday night Johan Oviedo gave the Pirates their 32nd quality start of the season…The 32 quality starts are the third-most in the National League and eighth-most in MLB…The only two National League teams with more are the Cubs and Padres with 33 apiece.
YOUNG HAYES: Ke’Bryan Hayes had a pair of hits Tuesday to raise his average this month to .379, which ranks fifth in the National League… The only four players in the National League this month with a higher average are Miami’s Luis Arraez (.443), Philadelphia’s Nick Castellanos (.400), San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. (.400) and Atlanta’s Orlando Arcia (.393).
YOUNG BUCS: Last night Single-A Bradenton’s Termarr Johnson recorded his first career multi-homer game against Lakeland…Johnson has gone deep five times in eight games since June 11, which is tied for the second-most home runs in all of MiLB in that time…Chattanooga’s Rece Hinds and St. Paul’s Chris Williams lead MiLB in that time with seven homers apiece…Johnson’s 1.478 OPS since June 11 also ranks eighth in all of MiLB.
44 BUCS: Tuesday night Cal Mitchell became the 44th different player to appear in a game this season for the Pirates…The Angels have used the most players this season in MLB (48) while the Nationals have suited up a Major League low 33 players.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – 44 – LHP RICH HILL
RICH HILL: The 43-year-old lefthander is making his 15th start of the season this afternoon…Walked six batters in 5.0 innings while losing a 5-4 decision (4r/3er) to Julio Teheran in his last start Friday at Milwaukee.
vs. CHICAGO (NL): 1-1 with a 2.49 ERA (25.1ip/7er) in five career appearances (four starts)…Faced the Cubs once last year as a member of the Red Sox, coming away with a no-decision (4.2ip/3er) in a 6-5 win by the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
