“PADRES-CUBS…AN EXPLOSIVE PLAYOFF SERIES”
A really interesting National League playoff series is about to unfold at Petco Park.
There is some tradition, Padres vs Cubs, dating to last year’s Cubs win at Wrigley Field, and all the way back to the 1984 Padres trip to the Series against the Tigers, taking out the Cubs along the way.
But this is a different year. Different teams. And different philosophies.
We know the big names and the high priced players.
What people forget are the roster builders, the GMs, who made such a difference this year, putting the rosters together.
Jed Hoyer, who was here years ago, set out to fill in the blanks on a roster. Here came Alex Bregman then plug in guys like Mike Conforto and front line starter Kevin Gausman.
AJ Preller needed help, and added 5-key veterans from all over, who had contributed big hits, big plays and some quality starts. Think about Luis Rengifo..Dustin Harris..Samod Taylor..plus Robbie Ray. And more than anything else, the signing of Ty France.
There would be no game Tuesday at Petco were it not for what Hoyer-Preller did to add on.
As for game day, there is a given. This will be a series possibly decided by home runs.
The Cubs bring big lumber to San Diego. Peter Crow-Armstrong (45HR)..Alex Bregman (26HR)..Seiya Suzki (25)…Ian Happ-Mike Busch (24) can hit it out anytime any place.
Of course the Friars have their own version of mad bombers, from the MVP type numbers Fernando Tatis (25HR) carries into the playoffs. The re-emergence of Jackson Merrill’s power (26HR) and the veteran’s presence of Manny Machado’s (30HR) wrapped around a (.217-batting average) season.
The real unknown is whether either of these starting rotations can get thru innings without giving up bombs, lots of bombs.
Michael King and Walker Buehler have provided huge amounts of quality starts, but have given up a combined (42) home runs this year. In fact the entire staff has surrendered (180) this season. Nick Pivetta is back, so that’s 3-quality starters, if they can get 6-quality innings each.
Of course, you can say the same for a less than stellar Cubs rotation, which has fought thru alot of health issues on the mound. Shoto Imanaga has had ailments off and on this year. Matt Boyd has had arm problems off and on his entire career. After that the Cubs rotation has more questions, so who knows how much Kevin Gausman, the ex Blue Jay, has left in the tank.
Both teams have deep bullpens, but if starters give up homers early, how long do you stay with King-Buehler-Pivetta if the ball starts flying out of the yard? And can you afford to go to the bullpen early and often with 3-games in 3-days?
An intangible here: the Padres are (51-30) at home. But the Cubs are (43-38) on the road, fourth best in the NL.
And a unique statistic here: the Cubs are (22-16) against all the other National League teams in the playoffs, while the Padres are just (14-24), a real eye opener, considering how hot the Friars are right now.
Like I said, this will be a hitter’s paradise Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday. More home runs than quality innings.
Bring your ball glove to the yard. Think the Cubs and Padres will be hitting homers out.
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