Hayden Wesneski’s quality start Wednesday was rendered moot as the Cubs’ 3-0 loss to the Padres marked the second time they’ve been shut out this season.
“I really think the fastball command has been really good — sinker and four-seam,” the right-handed Wesneski (2-1) said after limiting the Padres to three runs in six-plus innings. “And then, I think, the biggest thing in all this is I’m getting ahead. The first pitch, I’m getting ahead, and so it makes it to where they either have to swing the first pitch — which makes some hitters uncomfortable because they’d rather see a pitch — or they take it for a strike and then I’m in the driver’s seat.”
All well and good — except the Cubs’ offense only had one hit all game. It resulted in their first home series loss of 2024. Over a stretch of 16 straight games without a day off, they were 9-7.
“[Considering] some of the players that were absent during that stretch, it was a pretty good stretch,” manager Craig Counsell said. “You always want more, no doubt.”
The Cubs are off Thursday for the first time in two weeks before opening a six-game road trip Friday in Pittsburgh.
“The off day, it’s rest,” Counsell said. “And it’s a mental break as much as anything. And it’s welcome after a stretch like that.”
Swanson knee issue
Shortstop Dansby Swanson was out of the lineup for the second time in a week.
“His right knee has been bugging him a little bit,” Counsell said. “So we’re going to try to just use the day off here to try to get him an extra day here.”
Counsell said Swanson was initially hurt on a slide April 25 against the Astros at the end of the last homestand. He has been playing through the discomfort but also was out of the lineup in New York last week, when the Cubs wrapped up the road trip with a day game after a night game.
They’ll gauge his recovery as they begin this road trip.
Contreras broken arm
Former Cubs catcher Willson Contreras’ broken arm has sparked conversation about catcher’s interference and the potential pitfalls for teams whose catchers set up closer to the plate to better receive low pitches.
On Tuesday, Mets designated hitter J.D. Martinez struck Contreras on the left forearm with his swing in the second inning of a 7-5 Mets win. Contreras was set to undergo surgery — a big blow to the already floundering Cardinals.
“The reason you [set up closer] is because the low pitch is more accessible to catch better,” Counsell said. “When you do it, you’re obviously moving closer to the hitter’s swing path. And then hitters like J.D. Martinez that are known for catching the ball deep — that’s what they’re good at — those are the people that it could happen against. It sounds like the unfortunate sequence of everything just lined up.”
Rehab assignment report
The Cubs said right-hander Kyle Hendricks (strained lower back) felt great coming out of a rehab start Tuesday with Triple-A Iowa. He threw 85 pitches in 4 ⅓ innings of one-run ball.
In the first game of his Triple-A rehab assignment Wednesday, Seiya Suzuki (strained right oblique) started in right field and went 2-for-2 with a walk.
