The Cubs are back at Wrigley after a road trip that changed the tone around the club, and now the test gets a little more dangerous. Chicago won six of seven away from home, and if that run is going to mean something, it has to carry over against a Padres team that has shown plenty of fight.
That starts with the lineup, where Craig Counsell is rolling out a familiar group again. Pete Crow-Armstrong leads off, followed by Alex Bregman in the two-hole, Michael Busch, Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, Michael Conforto, Miguel Amaya, and Dansby Swanson.
Bregman’s spot remains the biggest talking point. Even with the rough stretch he’s been in, the Cubs are keeping him near the top.
He was in the middle of some scrutiny during Sunday’s win after not running full speed to first base, and the numbers have only made the conversation louder. He is hitting .204 over his last 15 outings, has two hits in his last six games, and has been especially ineffective with runners in scoring position.
Still, Counsell is staying with the same general look for now.
There’s no change elsewhere in the batting order from Sunday. Suzuki remains in the cleanup spot after a bounce-back series, Conforto is back in right field, and Carson Kelly is out again with Amaya behind the plate.
Conforto’s playing time figures to stay heavy. Matt Shaw was placed on the IL Monday after being pulled from Sunday’s game, and he’ll be replaced on the roster by Kevin Alcantara for now. The Cubs may turn to The Jaguar at some point, but Counsell has been reluctant in the past because of Alcantara’s strikeout rate.
On the other side, the Padres arrive after losing two straight to the Dodgers, but they were on a strong run before that. They had won six of eight and swept the Braves, which is a good reminder that this is not a club Chicago can treat lightly.
San Diego’s lineup features Fernando Tatis, Jr. at the top, with Samad Taylor, Manny Machado, Miguel Andujar, Ty France, Jackson Merrill, Xander Bogaerts, Freddy Fermin, and Jake Cronenworth following.
The Cubs will hand the ball to Shota Imanaga, who is coming off a rough outing against the Mets. After back-to-back strong starts, he was tagged for four runs on three homers in 5.1 innings.
It has been that kind of season for him: plenty of chase, few baserunners, but too much damage when hitters square him up. He has allowed the third-most home runs in baseball.
That’s not a great setup for a warm night at Wrigley with the wind blowing out. The Padres haven’t exactly been a home-run machine this season, ranking 23rd, but they do own a 40.2 percent hard-hit rate.
San Diego is starting Griffin Canning, and the Cubs should have chances if they’re patient. Canning has had a rough season over his ten games, carrying a 7.38 ERA and a walk rate of 13.2 percent. Opponents have also done damage against him, with both his barrel rate and hard-hit rate sitting in the 14th percentile or above.
He mixes a deep arsenal, leaning on his slider, fastball and change-up, while right-handers also see his sinker. The idea is to coax ground balls, which means Chicago’s hitters will need to stay disciplined and look for pitches they can lift.
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What makes this worth watching is that Darvish has denied retirement talk and is still under contract, which keeps the door open for a return whenever he is ready. Stammen even left open the possibility of a late-season surprise, the kind of development that would change the Padres pitching picture in an instant. For now, there is no clean answer on when that might happen, only the sense that Darvishs comeback timeline is no longer as fixed as it once seemed. [Read more 🡒]