Cubs @ Padres – Series Preview: August 22-24; TV/Game Info, Pitching Match-ups, More
The Chicago Cubs (78-45) head to San Diego to take on the reeling Padres (53-71). Another series that, on paper, the Cubs should run away with. Of course, the same could have been said when these two teams squared off back in early May, with the Padres winning two-of-three, but I digress. This time should be different.
The Cubs are 15-4 so far in August. With three more wins they’ll tie their highest win total (18) in a month this season. And with nine games left in August, winning three more shouldn’t be a problem.
Game times and broadcast info
- Monday, August 22, 9:10 PM CT on CSN
- Tuesday, August 23, 9:10 PM CT on CSN
- Wednesday, August 24, 2:40 PM CT on WGN
Starting pitchers
| Date | Pitcher | Age | T | ERA | W/L | K/BB |
| 8/22 | Jon Lester | 32 | L | 2.86 | 13-4 | 3.56 |
| Edwin Jackson | 32 | R | 5.36 | 3-3 | 1.36 | |
| 8/23 | Jake Arrieta | 30 | R | 2.75 | 15-5 | 2.58 |
| Christian Friedrich | 29 | L | 4.69 | 4-9 | 1.89 | |
| 8/24 | Kyle Hendricks | 26 | R | 2.16 | 11-7 | 3.53 |
| Paul Clemens | 28 | R | 4.82 | 2-2 | 1.35 |
What to watch for
- The starting rotation in this series for the Cubs is very much what the rotation might look like come playoff time. With Lester, Arrieta and Hendricks being the most consistent pitchers this season for the Cubs. It’s going to be fun to watch all three guys pitch in this series. Well, maybe not so much fun if you’re a Padres fan…
- On the other side, the Padres’ starting pitchers in this series have all struggled this year, with the lowest ERA among them being 4.69. I’m looking for the Cubs bats to get going in this series and score a lot of runs.
- Jason Heyward sat out four days in a hope that the rest would get him wherever he needs to be to start being more productive offensively. As it stands now, Heyward is the highest rated defensive player on the team (13.6 Def). However, he’s also the lowest rated offensive player too (-16.2 Off), and he’s no where close to second place (Jason Hammel with a -3.5 Def). If he doesn’t start clicking at the plate soon, Joe Maddon is going to have a difficult decision to make come playoff time. Stats via FanGraphs.