Quote from 3fingersplit on May 6, 2024, 10:16 am

Always enjoy watching a game at Wrigley Field and the Padres need to start this road trip with a win because losing Musgrove will hurt them and hopefully Vasquez can fill the tomorrow. I tried to make it to Chicago for this series but I have to wait until September to see games at Wrigley…Cubs vs Yankees and the Chicago food festival happens the same time…good food and baseball ⚾️…doesn’t get any better than that unless of course my Padres were playing but the Yankees are the Yankees 😃

Go Padres!!!

Quote from Jeremy Hill on May 6, 2024, 11:41 am

We've got a lot of guys that have been struggling against lefties to this point. We're hitting .195 against them as a team. They're going to need to get on track with Steele and Imanaga going in the first 2 for the Cubs.

Quote from fenn68 on May 6, 2024, 4:14 pm

Machado getting the day off and Solano is starting 3B. Arraez is DH.

Getting the sense that Shildt manages for the long view … managing player use to have them strong in the 2nd half. Plus wants to keep the bench player involved and hopefully sharp. We will see how that develops in the next few months … especially with the pitchers.

Maybe that contributes to his STL teams playing .500 in the first half and finishing strong.

Quote from Alex Tamayo on May 6, 2024, 7:17 pm

All of the sudden the BP forgot to throw strikes

Quote from Jeremy Hill on May 6, 2024, 7:42 pm

Nice to have a closer that can get us out of a jam and get 5 outs to close out a game.

Quote from Alex Tamayo on May 6, 2024, 8:03 pm

Quote from Jeremy Hill on May 6, 2024, 7:42 pm

Nice to have a closer that can get us out of a jam and get 5 outs to close out a game.

I know, how many games did they lose last year because some guy did't want to come out for even a 4 out save? At least 3-5 I think

Quote from WindsorUK on May 6, 2024, 9:14 pm

Agreed!

I was sure Suarez was gone due to his high salary but man, what a breath of fresh air to have a pitcher who wants to go out there and pitch!

He's a throwback to closers of yesteryear- Goose, Sutter, Lee Smith, Rollie, guys that took the ball in high leverage situations regardless of inning.

Really glad I was wrong. Suarez must be the top back end pitcher in the NL, if not all of baseball.

Quote from WindsorUK on May 6, 2024, 9:19 pm

Looking at Cubs lineup. They have some pretty anaemic averages( think Kim and Bogaerts level) yet are what, 5 games over .500? Their situational hitting must be far superior to ours?

Or is their starting pitching that much better than ours? I know Steele's good and Iminaga has been a huge success but the rest?

Maybe instead of bringing in more bats, any moves going forward need to be made to the pitching staff( ultimately, that's what's going to help you win in the post season....just ask the Duds!)

Quote from fenn68 on May 7, 2024, 3:13 am

Quote from WindsorUK on May 6, 2024, 9:19 pm

Looking at Cubs lineup. They have some pretty anaemic averages( think Kim and Bogaerts level) yet are what, 5 games over .500? Their situational hitting must be far superior to ours?

Or is their starting pitching that much better than ours? I know Steele's good and Iminaga has been a huge success but the rest?

Maybe instead of bringing in more bats, any moves going forward need to be made to the pitching staff( ultimately, that's what's going to help you win in the post season....just ask the Duds!)

Keep in mind that Bellinger and Suzuki are both on the IL. However, the big difference is they have rolled out some dominant SP in Assad - Imanaga - Taillon … now adding Steel.

Might also have something to do with the venues and opponents.

Home: Cubs 12-5 … Padres 8-12 (note one of my earlier posts)

Away: Cubs 9-10 … Padres: 11-7

and

Opponents <=.500: Cubs 12-5 … Padres 11-12

Opponents > .500: Cubs 9-10 … Padres 8-7

Still a small sample size but Cubs are clearly killing the poorer teams (different poorer teams than the Padres faced) and dominating HOME in Wrigley. Against good teams the Padres are better as they are on the road. Too early to project but winning vs the good teams and on the road should bode well for the team going forward.

Maybe once the season warms up at PETCO (annually an issue early) the Padres will get the PETCO act together.

Who you play … when you play them … where you play them … and your team’s health/hot/slumping (same for opponent) … makes a difference especially over a short period. 75-80% of the season remains … things will change.