SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:
Friars blanked 6-0 by Cubs in Game 1
• Blake Snell went 5.0 innings last night with 2 runs allowed and 5 strikeouts, but he walked 5 in his 105 pitches…he was saddled with his 4th loss, tying with 10 others for the most losses of any pitcher this year.
• San Diego batters went 0-for-8 with RISP last night, and Matt Carpenter’s double was their lone extra-base hit.
Roster Move
• Today, the Padres optioned LHP Ryan Weathers to Triple-A El Paso and recalled LHP Tom Cosgrove from EL Paso…Cosgrove’s 1st appearance will be his MLB debut.
Oh, Mexico! Padres on their 2nd roadtrip of 2023
• The Padres are on a casual 11-day, 9-game trip that includes a 2-game “home” series in Mexico City at Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium vs. SF to cap the trip from April 29-30…after the Padres’ 3 game set in CHC, they will fly to Mexico City, have an off day in Mexico on April 28, and host a 2-game series vs. SF before flying home and hosting the Reds the next day on May 1st.
• This will be the 1st regular season series in Mexico City in MLB history (previous games were all in Monterrey)…the series will also be the 1st MLB games to be played in the newly built Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium.
• It will be the Padres 4th regular season appearance in Mexico, more than any other team…the Padres played in the 1st-ever Mexico Series in 1996 against the Mets in Monterrey (won 2-1), and they also played their 1999 season opener in Monterrey vs. Colorado (lost 8-2)…the Friars returned in 2018 for a 3-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers (won the series 2-1)…the Padres overall regular season record in Mexico is 4-3 in 7 games.
• This will mark the 6th time MLB teams have played regular season games in Mexico, and 3 of the previous 5 have involved the Padres…in 2016, the Padres and Astros played in a 2-game exhibition series in Mexico during Spring Training, and in Dec. 2019, MLB announced that SD and the D-Backs would play a 2-game series in Mexico City in April 2020 (cancelled due to the pandemic).
Way, way too cold
• Last night’s game was 41 degrees at 1st pitch, tying for the 7th coldest game in Padres’ history…it was the 1st time they played a game that cold since April 24, 2018 @ Colorado (37 degrees).
• There have been a total of 9 games now that the Padres have played that have been 41 degrees or colder, and 5 of them have been at Wrigley Field (before last night, their last was on April 18, 2011). That April 18th game was the Padres’ all-time coldest game at 34 degrees.
Shutout losses
• San Diego was shut out 6-0 last night, and they’ve now been shut out in 5 games this season, which are the most shutout losses of any NL team and tie with the Royals for the most in the Majors…of the Padres last 5 defeats, 4 of them have been shutout losses.
• This is the 1st time since 2016 in which the Padres have had 5+ shutout defeats within the 1st 25 games to start a season, and it’s the 4th such start to a season in franchise history.
• In their wins overall, the Padres have a .804 collective OPS…in their losses, they have a .546 OPS.
RISP woes
• San Diego’s .190 batting average with RISP (35-for-184) is the worst mark in all of baseball.
STARTER – MICHAEL WACHA 52
Wacha aims for 3rd win at the friendly confines 31-year-old right-hander Michael Wacha is set for his 5th start of the season and his 3rd on the road tonight vs. CHC…his 20 career appearances and 18 starts vs. the Cubs are the 2nd-most he’s made against any team, trailing only 24 outings and 20 starts vs. CIN. Wacha has just 5 quality outings in his 18 career starts vs. the Cubs, going 4-8 with a 6.50 ERA, 1.59 WHIP and .284 AVG against…he’s allowed a career-high 8 runs twice in his career, and both instances have come against the Cubs – once in 2016 and again in 2018.
Wacha doesn’t factor into SD’s 7-5 win
Wacha kicked off this current road trip with his 8th career start vs. AZ last Thursday, and his first vs. ARI since Sept. 25, 2019…he allowed 10 hits vs. the D’Backs after allowing 11 hits in his previous outing to vs. MIL on April 14…it’s the 2nd time in his career he’s allowed double-digit hits in back-to-back outings (other: Aug. 8, 2021 @ BAL and Aug. 14, 2021 @ MIN).
Wacha tagged with first career loss vs. Brew Crew
Wacha’s bid for a third consecutive winning decision to open the season did not come to fruition after suffering his first career losing decision vs. the Brewers in his 15th career start on Fri, Apri 14 …he is now 5-1 as a starter vs. the Brewers, and the 11 hits allowed were
one shy of his career-high 12 on Sept. 19, 2013 @ COL.
Road Wacha
In his career, has made 8 more road starts (108) compared to at home (100), and has tossed nearly exactly as many total innings on the road (587.2) and at home (586.1) as a starter. In his first road start in SD brown and gold on April 8 @ ATL, he struck out a career-high-tying 10 batters across 6.0-shutout innings of 2-hit ball in SD’s 4-1 victory…his other 10 strikeout performance came on June 9, 2015 @ COL while with STL.
Wacha’s pitch mix
Wacha throws his changeup 30.4% of the time, and is limiting opponents to a .226 AVG against…he is averaging 4.4 inches of vertical movement on his cutter, which is tied for the 8th-most vertical movement of any cutter in the Majors (min. 50 throws), but opponents are hitting .444 against it, with 2 of his 3 HR allowed coming against the pitch…opponents are hitting .364 vs. his 4-seamer, .417 vs. his sinker and .250 vs. his curveball.
Barrels and contact
Wacha has allowed 9 barrels in his 352 pitches thrown and 69 batted balls for a 13% barrel rate (13th percentile in the Majors)…19.5 percent of his pitches thrown have been put in play, the highest rate of his career, and his 30.4 ground ball percentage is the lowest of his career, well below his 45.1 percent ground ball rate.
CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:
Cubs vs. Padres
The Cubs and the Padres will face each other seven times this season, opening with this three-game set at home … Chicago has taken three of the last four season series, going 16-11 in that span, with each of the last sets at Wrigley involving a sweep (0-4 in 2022 and 3-0 in 2021).
STAY CLASSY, SAN DIEGO: The Chicago Cubs today play game two of a three-game set against the Padres to conclude this eight-day, seven-game homestand … the Cubs took game one last night, beating the Padres 6-0 behind a Yan Gomes offensive outburst and a shutdown pitching performance from Justin Steele … Nico Hoerner sealed the Chicago victory with a three-RBI triple in the eighth inning, his first of the season, to extend his on-base streak to 20 games.
With these three games against San Diego, Chicago will wrap up a stretch of 19 games (11-6), all against A.L. or N.L. West teams.
Following this homestand, the team departs for a seven-game trip at the Marlins (3 games starting Friday) and Nationals (4 games beginning May 1).
DO NOT PASS ‘GO’: Chicago last night shutout the Padres for their fifth shutout victory in the 22nd game of the season … that pace is tied for second fewest games to five shutouts in Cubs franchise history, also in 1969 and 1902 … the Cubs got to five in 21 games in 1885 and 1907 … the fastest a Cubs team has gotten to six shutouts was in 1907 when they did so in 23 games. (Thanks to Ed Hartig for this info!)
STEELE STAYED STRONG: Justin Steele last night threw 5.1 innings, allowing no runs, three hits, two walks and striking out five batters … with the outing, he extended his streak of appearances with two-or-fewer earned runs to 12 games, tied with Shohei Ohtani for the second-longest active streak in the majors, behind Max Fried (13).
In his last 12 starts dating to July 22, 2022, Steele has posted a 1.07 ERA which ranks first among major league pitchers (min. 10 starts) in that span.
GOMES’ BAT GETS GOING: Yan Gomes has reached based safely in each of his last eight games with hits in seven of them, including five multi-hit efforts … he is 15-for34 (.441) with four home runs, nine RBI, nine runs scored, a .794 slugging percentage and a 1.251 OPS since April 11 … his .441 average leads the N.L. in that span (min. 8 G) and his slugging percentage ranks third (behind Max Muncy, 1.000, and Jack Suwinski, .865).
Last night he went 4-for-4 and hit his second home run in as many games … he last homered in back-to-back games June 15-16, 2021 … he tallied four hits in a game for the fifth time in his career (first since Sept. 7, 2022 vs. CIN) and did so without recording an out for the second time (also Sept. 7, 2022).
DON’T SLEEP ON YAN’S DEFENSE: Yan Gomes threw out a runner in last night’s win, his third caught stealing in as many attempts … he is the first Cubs catcher to have four-plus hits including a home run and catch a runner stealing since Henry Blanco did it July 24, 2005. (source: Elias)
He is the only qualified catcher in the majors who has yet to give up a stolen base … his 2.87 catchers ERA and the .197 opponents average with him behind the dish are both good for second among major league catchers who have caught at least half of their team games.
CHICAGO IS A 10: Chicago’s pitching staff struck out 10 batters last night against the Padres, the fourth such performance in the last five games and 14th on the season … the Cubs 14 games with 10-plus strikeouts are tied for the league lead (also Houston) … addtionally, Chicago ranks tied for fourth-fewest with five games of 10-or-more batter strikeouts (Arizona, Cleveland and Washington are tied for the fewest with four each).
FAMILIAR FOE: Eric Hosmer, who, along with Brad Boxberger, Luis Torrens and manager David Ross, played for both San Diego and Chicago, leads current Cubs players with a .395 batting average (15-for-38) and .684 slugging percentage against San Diego … in fact, Hosmer’s .395 average against the Padres is his highest against any opponent over the course of his career.
Among active major league hitters with at least nine games played against San Deigo, Hosmer ranks fourth in batting average, eighth in slugging percentage and 13th in on-base percentage (.429).
YOU GO, NICO!: Nico Hoerner in the season’s early going is hitting .347 (34-for-98) with 20 runs scored, five doubles, one triple, two homers, 14 RBI and nine stolen bases, having reached base safely in 21 of 22 games played … his 34 hits are tied for second in the majors, trailing Ronald Acuña Jr. with 36, while his nine stolen bases rank third in the N.L. and his 19 runs scored are fourth.
Hoerner has reached base safely in a career-high 20-straight games since April 2, tied for the third-longest active streak in the majors.
Hoerner’s .347 average ranks third among all qualifying leadoff hitters, trailing Acuña (.364) and Nimmo (.354).
ARM CARE: Cubs pitching has posted a 3.51 ERA (77 ER/197.2 IP) this season, the third-best mark in the N.L. and sixth in the majors … the starting rotation has a 3.09 ERA (40 ER/116.2 IP), the third-best mark in baseball behind Tampa Bay (2.95) and Atlanta (3.05).
Cubs relievers have pitched to a 4.11 ERA (37 ER/81.0 IP) while averaging 11.44 strikeouts per 9.0 innings, the top mark in the majors (Cardinals are second with an 11.14 rate).
TWO STRIKES? SO WHAT?: The Cubs lead the majors with a .221 average (93-for420), a .300 on-base percentage and a .364 slugging percentage when batting with two strikes in the count … Chicago’s 51 RBI with two strikes are tied for third in the majors and it’s 13 homers when down to the final strike rank fourth.
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 the second behind Albies (12).
Starting Pitcher – #11 LHP Drew Smyly (2-1, 3.13)
Last Time Out
Drew retired the first 21 batters of the game April 21 vs. Los Angles (N.L.), becoming the first Cub to take a perfect game bid into the eighth inning since José Guzmán (April 6, 1993 vs. Atlanta) … became the first Cub with 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) … recorded his 12th career 10-strikeout game (last Sept. 27, 2020 vs. San Diego).
Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
4/21 LAD W, 13-0 7.2 1 0 0 0 10 103-68 13-0, 1 on
2023 Splits and Season Notes
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
Home 1-0 0.71 2 2 12.2 3 1 1 1 17
Road 1-1 6.10 2 2 10.1 13 8 7 4 6
AVG vs. LHB: .238 (5-for-21) / AVG vs. RHB: .180 (11-for-61)
Drew is scheduled to make his fifth start of the season today, his third at Wrigley Field … has a 0.98 ERA (2 ER/18.1 IP) in his last three starts, allowing one run or fewer in all three outings … has posted a 2.04 ERA (13 ER/57.1 IP) at Wrigley Field since the start of 2022 … is holding opponents to a .195 (16-for-82) with a 0.91 WHIP this season … opposing batters are hitting .200 (8-for-40) with 16 strikeouts
against his curveball.
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
