Chicago Cubs @ San Diego Padres – Series Preview (April 8-10): Overview, Game and Broadcast Info, Starting Pitchers, W2W4
The Cubs (6-3) just finished a very successful opening homestand, going 5-1 against the Rockies and Dodgers. With all apologies to Colorado, taking two of three from Los Angeles was a much more impressive feat. Chicago’s offense was explosive over the six games, scoring a whopping 44 runs. They hope to keep the good times rolling as they head out on a nine-game West Coast trip beginning Monday in San Diego.
The Padres (5-7) had a disappointing 2023 which began with very high expectations and ended with missing the playoffs. Cy Young winner Blake Snell departed for San Francisco in free agency and has been replaced by Dylan Cease, who came over via trade from the White Sox right before the season.
San Diego’s lineup is basically the same as it was last season with big stars like Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, and Fernando Tatis Jr. still mainstays. Highly touted prospect Jackson Merrill has gotten off to a great start in his first major league season. They’ve gotten off to a slow start in 2024 but this is still a dangerous team.
West Coast trips are always perilous and most of the time the goal is just to stay around .500. The Cubs’ pitching depth is already being tested early with injuries to Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, and now Julian Merryweather, so I think manager Craig Counsell would feel pretty good about breaking even on this one.
That being said, the Cubs will be able to hang with anybody if they can keep hitting the way they have been, something they clearly demonstrated against the Dodgers. The first nine games of the year have been highly entertaining, now we see if they keep the fun going on the coast.
Game Time and Broadcast Info
- Monday, April 8 at 8:40pm CT on Marquee.
- Tuesday, April 9 at 9:05pm CT on TBS and Marquee.
- Wednesday, April 10 at 5:40pm CT on Marquee.
Starting Pitchers
| Date | Pitcher | Age | T | ERA | W/L | FIP | K/BB |
| 4/8 | Javier Assad | 26 | R | 0.00 | 1-0 | 2.52 | 5.00 |
| Yu Darvish | 37 | R | 2.30 | 0-1 | 2.93 | 3.20 | |
| 4/9 | Ben Brown | 24 | R | 11.12 | 0-0 | 4.95 | 2.00 |
| Joe Musgrove | 31 | R | 6.28 | 1-1 | 4.09 | 3.00 | |
| 4/10 | Kyle Hendricks | 34 | R | 11.74 | 0-1 | 8.27 | 1.50 |
| Dylan Cease | 28 | R | 3.38 | 0-0 | 1.87 | 3.25 |
What to Watch For
- The Cubs have not named a starter for Tuesday but expect Brown to pitch multiple innings after an opener like he did against the Rockies.
- Michael Busch is fitting in nicely with an extra-base hit in every game in the Dodgers series.
- It’s been a very tough start for Hendricks, who has allowed 10 runs in just 7.2 innings of work.
- Nico Hoerner has also been slow out of the gate but he’s starting to make very solid contact the last few games.
