Cubs vs Padres — Well, the good news is that the Cubs swept the Athletics in Sacramento, and they did so convincingly, outscoring the A’s 35 to 9 over three games. The bad news is that later this afternoon, the team will begin one of the toughest one-month schedules that I can remember.
Seriously, this next stretch is just brutal: First, the Cubs will play the undefeated San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field for the home opener. After that, they’ll host the first-place Texas Rangers for three games. Then, they fly back out West for six straight games against the (also) undefeated Dodgers and Padres. Then it’s back to Wrigley for three against the Diamondbacks, two MORE against the Dodgers, and three against the first-place Phillies.
That truly — seriously — sucks. And I guess we’ll just have to be realistic about what their record might look like at the end of this month.
On the bright side, the Cubs bats have come alive, led primarily by the heart of the order:
- Kyle Tucker is every bit as good as anyone could have hoped, slashing .324/.444/.784 (229 wRC+) with five doubles, four homers, eight walks, and just six strikeouts on the season. Throw in his solid base running and plus defense, and he’s the most valuable player in baseball by fWAR (0.9).
- Seiya Suzuki has turned on the power after a slow start in Tokyo, with 11 hits (including four homers and two doubles) in his last 36 plate appearances.
Likewise, outside of some uncharacteristic wildness, Shota Imanaga has looked pretty good so far this season, allowing just 1 earned run over his first two starts (11.0 IP). Fingers crossed, there have been no homers so far, but we’ll see how that wind at Wrigley Field is playing this weekend.
Brett will be at the game this afternoon, but, for the first time in a long time, I will not be at the Cubs home opener. Today marks one week since our little girl, Isabella, was born. So I have other, more important duties to tend to.
Not that we won’t still be watching together…
Cubs vs Padres – Pitching Probables:
Game 1:Cubs vs Padres – Friday, April 4 at 1:20 pm CT at Wrigley Field
Broadcast Info:Marquee Sports Network, 670 The Score, WRTO 1200
- Cubs: Shota Imanaga, LHP
- Padres: Randy Vasquez, RHP
Game 2:Cubs vs Padres – Saturday, April 5 at 1:20 pm CT at Wrigley Field
Broadcast Info:Marquee Sports Network, 670 The Score, WRTO 1200
- Cubs: Matthew Boyd, LHP
- Padres: Nick Pivetta, RHP
Game 3:Cubs vs Padres – Sunday, April 6 at 1:20 pm CT at Wrigley Field
Broadcast Info:Marquee Sports Network, 670 The Score, WRTO 1200
- Cubs: Ben Brown, RHP
- Padres: Kyle Hart, LHP
Cubs vs Padres – Key Injuries:
- Vidal Brujan, UT
- Javier Assad, RHP
- Tyson Miller, RP
- Ryan Brasier, RP
- Bryan Hoeing, RP
- Sean Reynolds, RP
- Jhonny Brito, RP
- Yu Darvish, SP
- Matt Waldron, SP
- Joe Musgrove, SP
written by
Michael Cerami
Michael Cerami began covering the Chicago Cubs for Bleacher Nation as a part-time contributor in 2015. One year later, he joined Bleacher Nation full-time, covering the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball. Today, Michael runs Bleacher Nation, contributing as a writer (Cubs, MLB) and an editor for all sections of the site, including the Chicago Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks, as well as MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL.In 2019, Michael was the co-host of NBC Sports Chicago's Cubs Post-Game Show Outside the Ivy. You can find him on Twitter/X @Michael_Cerami
