Chicago Cubs: Weekend series vs Padres is a huge test

After a slow start against the St. Louis Cardinals on Opening Night, the Chicago Cubs have found ways to put runs on the board while their bullpen has done an excellent job in preventing other teams from doing so themselves.

Yes, it is early in the season, but the Cubs being in first place twice the last three days has been a big deal. With two consecutive series’ wins against the Colorado Rockies on the road and the Cincinnati Reds at home – this team is showing that they do, in fact, belong at the top of the N.L. Central with the top dogs.

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Despite Jon Lester‘s rough outings to start the year, Chicago managed to back him up in his second start of the season, erasing two three-run deficits this past Monday.

Their early schedule has indeed been a tough one, going up against the division’s version of the Green Bay Packers in the Cardinals, taking on a Rockies team who had swept the Milwaukee Brewers, then taking over the No. 1 spot from the Reds.

With the Cubs taking care of business against their second N.L. Central rival in the last two weeks, another N.L. West powerhouse in the San Diego Padres, will visit Wrigley Field this weekend for a three-game set.

The Padres (6-4), made a ton of noise during the off-season with the additions of guys such as Matt Kemp, James Shields, Justin Upton, and Wil Myers. Justin’s brother Melvin Upton Jr. (B.J.) was acquired by the Padres on Opening Night along with Craig Kimbrel from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Carlos Quentin, Cameron Maybin, Matt Wisler, Jordan Paroubeck and the 41st pick in the upcoming draft.

As of right now, San Diego is still without Upton Jr., who is still attempting to return after he was diagnosed with sesamoiditis in his foot back in February. This resulted in him missing the entire spring and isn’t expected to be activated from the disabled list until the end of the month or early-May.

His brother Justin, on the other hand, has been tearing the cover off of baseballs, as he’s currently tied in the National League with three home runs with seven RBI. Former Los Angeles Dodgers’ outfielder and MVP runner-up from a few years ago,

Former Los Angeles Dodgers’ outfielder and MVP runner-up from a few years ago, Matt Kemp, hasn’t hit one out of the ballpark just yet, but has driven in seven runs of his own on top of a .341/.364/.512 batting line. Kemp has a ton of power and has put it on display whenever he has visited Wrigley Field, so pitchers need to be cautious when he’s in the batters box.

Kemp has a ton of power and has put it on display whenever he has visited Wrigley Field, so pitchers need to be cautious when he’s in the batters box.

After Chicago’s shutout against the Reds, they found themselves sitting in the middle of the league at the No. 20 spot when it comes to runs scored. Pitching, on the other hand, currently has the Cubs ranked No. 17 with a 3.86 team earned run average.

While San Diego’s starting rotation has only managed to record three wins, reliever Joaquin Benoit leads their pitching staff with three wins of his own in six appearances. In this six games, Benoit has only allowed one earned run on three hits with three walks and five strikeouts behind a 1.50 ERA – even though he does have one blown save this season.

Kicking off this weekend series will be both Jason Hammel and James Shields. Shields (1-0, 2.08 ERA) is coming off a huge win against the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants.

In that outing against the defending champs, Shields gave up only one earned run on three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in seven innings of work. San Diego was shutout 1-0 in-game one but outscored the Giants 17-6 in the final three to win the series.

Just like the Cubs, they won their second consecutive series after defeating the D’backs 3-2 behind Justin Upton‘s solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning Wednesday night.

This weekend is definitely going to be a test for this hopeful Chicago Cubs team, considering that San Diego is in the top-10 in the league when it comes to both runs scored and earned run average as a whole. Entering Wednesday, the Dodgers (10th), Padres (9th), and the Rockies (6th) were the only N.L. teams in the top-10 when it comes to runs scored – while sitting at the No. 6 spot in pitching with a 2.74 ERA before taking on the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Entering Wednesday, the Dodgers (10th), Padres (9th), and the Rockies (6th) were the only N.L. teams in the top-10 when it comes to runs scored – while sitting at the No. 6 spot in pitching with a 2.74 ERA before taking on the Arizona Diamondbacks. The only question right now is, will Kris Bryant be making his big league debut sometime during this upcoming series?

The only question right now is, will Kris Bryant be making his big league debut sometime during this upcoming series? Right now, that question is hard to answer after Neil Ramirez left Wednesday night’s game as he’s expected to undergo tests sometime today – which could either result in him being placed on the DL alongside Justin Grimm, or the team takes it day-to-day.

If he does find himself on the disabled list, the Cubs could end up delaying Bryant’s big league debut – as much as I hate to admit it. So for right now, we’re going to need guys like Dexter Fowler, Jorge Soler, Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo and those left in this bullpen to pull through in clutch situations in what could potentially become a post-season match-up in the near future.

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