MESA, Arizona — The Cubs defeated the Padres 6-5 on a very warm February afternoon at Sloan Park, thanks to some timely hitting by Cubs catcher Carson Kelly.
Shōta Imanaga made his first start of the spring and it was a good one. He allowed three hits, one of which was an infield grounder and another a bloop to left, and struck out one. Here’s the pitch sequencing on the strikeout, and you can see Imanaga’s velocity was up several ticks from late last year:
This appears to support the theory that Shōta was never fully recovered from the hamstring injury he suffered last May, through the end of the season. He probably couldn’t get any power out of his legs late last year, thus all the home runs. If he can throw 93-94 this year, that’s significant.
The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the first. Michael Busch led off with a double, took third on a ground out, and scored on a single by Carson Kelly. Two more Cubs runs crossed the plate in the second. B.J. Murray and Justin Dean singled and Scott Kingery was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Busch then was also hit, forcing in a run. A sac fly by Matt Shaw scord the second run.
The Cubs maintained the 3-0 lead until the fourth, when Jacob Webb was touched up for a pair of runs. He walked two after retiring the first two Padres on routine fly balls. A double by former Cub Nick Castellanos plated the two runs.
Kelly homered with one out in the fifth:
As you can see, that was a well-placed high fastball (well-placed for the hitter, that is), and Kelly hit it a long way [VIDEO].
After that Dylan Carlson walked, and one out later James Triantos also walked. Murray doubled in both runners. There doesn’t seem to be any place for Murray with the Cubs, but he will be leaving soon to play for Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic. Perhaps the Cubs can trade him to a team that will give him a chance.
After Webb’s rough inning, Ethan Roberts, Hoby Milner and Gavin Hollowell all threw scoreless frames. Hollowell struck out all three Padres minor leaguers he faced.
In the top of the eighth with a Padres runner on first, a ground ball was hit to third. The throw to first was late, and the runner on first headed to third but was thrown out. The umpires immediately ruled obstruction — and made an announcement to that effect. That’s a good thing and I hope announcements on unusual plays like that are made during regular season games. It’s a big help. The runner on third scored on a ground out, and in case you were wondering, since there were no further hits in the inning, that run was unearned off Jeff Brigham.
Minor leaguer Grant Kipp threw the ninth and was touched up for a single and two-run homer, making it a one-run game, but after the homer Kipp induced two ground balls to short to end things.
The game felt slow — and no wonder, as there were 299 pitches thrown, more than the MLB average of about 250, and there was no bottom of the ninth.
Attendance watch: Not surprisingly for a Tuesday in February, the crowd at Sloan Park was under 10,000, just 9,411. That makes the season total so far for three dates 35,903, or 11,968 per date.
We still have not seen Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner or Dansby Swanson in a game. I’m assuming we will see them all on Wednesday. Also, Cade Horton and Edward Cabrera have yet to start, and I’d guess we will see one of them on Friday.
The Cubs will host the Rockies Wednesday afternoon at Sloan Park. Jameson Taillon will start for the Cubs and old friend José Quintana goes for the Rockies. Game time is again 2:05 p.m. CT. No TV or radio Wednesday.