An early season nine-game road trip for the Cubbies is on the docket for this week's recap. A few stellar performances would lead the Cubs to a 3-3 record of the week, but not before we had to experience a couple of heartbreaking losses against the San Diego Padres. The Cubs will end their road trip in Arizona and finally return home to Wrigley to take on the Marlins; let's discuss this week!
4/8-4/10 @ Padres (Lost Series 1-2)
Lost Game 1, 9-8
Won Game 2, 5-1
Lost Game 3, 10-2
Starting their nine-game road trip in San Diego, the Cubs would heartbreakingly drop the series. In game one, the Cubs jumped out to an early 8-0 nothing led, only to be blindsided by a seven spot by the Padres in the sixth inning. Javier Assad had a strong start, only giving up two runs in five innings to work, but his start was spoiled by the bullpen, giving up a combined seven runs.
However, the Cubs bounced back with a victory in game two, provided by a strong Ben Brown performance (4.2IP, 3H, 0ER, 1BB, 5K) and Christopher Morel's grand slam. Seiya Suzuki also recorded three hits in this game, and Yan Gomes recorded his first home run of the season.
Game three would be a terror to the eyes of Cubs fans; another poor performance by Kyle Hendricks and only three hits from the Cubs lineup would lead to the blowout loss. The performances have started to catch the eyes of Cubs fans/media; as of right now, it doesn't look like he is giving up a lot of hard contact, so there is some luck attached to his starts. Still, he isn't striking many batters out, leading to hits (the nine he gave up against the Padres). The only runs scored by the Cubs would come from a two-run shot by Michael Busch.
4/12-4-15 @ Mariners (Won series 2-1)
Lost Game 1, 4-2
Won Game 2, 4-1
Wom Game 3, 3-2
Moving on to Seattle, the Cubs dropped game one but rebounded in the final two games. Jordan Wicks struggled against the Mariners (4.0IP, 5H, 4ER, 4BB, 6K). This was Wicks's first truly bad start of the season, but Wicks has been unable to pitch at least five full innings in a start this season. Michael Busch led the Cubs offense with a two-hit performance and another home run.
The Cubs would go back to their winning ways in game two with another stellar start by Shota Imanaga (5.1IP, 5H, 0ER, 2BB, 4K); that's now three straight starts without giving up a run for Shota. Nico Hoerner would hit a sac fly to get the Cubs on the board, but the long balls carried the Cubs to a victory. Cubs long balls were brought to you by Suzuki, Busch (notice a pattern yet?), and Miguel Amaya (his first of the year).
In the rubber game, Assad would have another strong during the week (5.2IP, 4H, 2ER, 1BB, 6K). For Assad, that's now two or fewer runs allowed in 15 of his 21 career starts. Offensively, the Cubs would score an unearned run on a Luis Castillo throwing error and another home run by Michael Busch (more on the Cubs rookie below). The bullpen came in very clutch in the last two games, Yency Almonte, Mark Leiter Jr, Hector Nerris, and Adbert Alzolay would all come in allow zero runs, and get out of trouble multiple times.
Hitter of the Week: Michael Busch
The Cubs rookie is already breaking records as he is the first Cubs rookie since 1901 to hit a home run in four straight games. Not only has the Busch been putting baseballs into orbit, but he's also swinging a scorching bat overall. Since the beginning of the Padres series, Busch is hitting .364/.417/.955, with four home runs and six RBIs. I was very skeptical when the Cubs traded for him, just because it was shocking that the Dodgers would give up a top prospect, but Busch is wasting no time showing the Dodgers it was a mistake getting rid of him.
Pitcher of the Week: Javier Assad
Pitcher of the week could've gone to Imanaga, but with only one start, it became more apparent that I should pick Assad for pitcher of the week. Assad missed the “quality start” achievement in both of his starts but only gave up two runs in both of his starts over 10.2 innings of work. Assad also had a .189BA and a .268OBPA through his starts this week, which went along with the 13 strikeouts. Assad has been more than enough for the Cubs rotation, it'll be interesting to see what Manager Craig Counsell does with Assad when Justin Steele and Jameson Taillion come back.
Other Highlights
Series To Come:
4/15: Cubs vs. D-Backs (Ben Brown vs. M. Kelly)
4/16: Cubs vs. D-Backs (K. Hendricks vs. T. Henry)
4/17: Cubs vs. D-Backs (J. Wicks vs. B. Pfaadt)
4/18: Marlins vs. Cubs (M. Meyer vs. S.Imanaga)
4/19: Marlins vs. Cubs (J. Luzardo vs. J. Assad)
4/20: Marlins vs. Cubs (A.J Puk vs. Undecided)
4/21: Marlins vs. Cubs (R. Weathers vs. K. Hendricks)
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