Padres vs Cubs: Series Preview, Key Injuries, Bold Prediction

The San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs are getting set for a three-game series this week between two of baseball's best teams.

It's a rematch of last year's wild-card series, which the Cubs won in three games.

The Padres (18-9) are coming off a two-game series split with the Arizona Diamondbacks in Mexico City. They've still gone seven consecutive series without a series loss.

As for the Cubs (17-11), they just lost two of three to the Los Angeles Dodgers. They had a 10-game winning streak after taking Friday's series opener before losing the final two games.

Padres vs Cubs Pitching Matchups

Monday, April 27: RHP Randy Vásquez vs. LHP Matthew Boyd

Tuesday, April 28: RHP Walker Buehler vs. RHP Edward Cabrera

Wednesday, April 29: RHP Matt Waldron vs. RHP Jameson Taillon

The Padres will only have the pitching advantage once this series, when Vásquez takes the ball on Monday night.

Vásquez has been the Padres' best starting pitcher this season, going 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA. He has 30 strikeouts to eight walks over 28.2 innings of work.

On Tuesday, the Padres will hope for a much better outing from Buehler than his last. Buehler lasted just 2.2 innings last week against the Colorado Rockies, allowing four runs on eight hits. Overall, he has a 5.75 ERA across 20.1 innings this season.

Waldron is pitching the series finale looking for any sort of positives. The right-hander has made two starts in place of the injured Nick Pivetta, allowing 12 runs over 8.2 innings for a 12.46 ERA. He's allowed six earned runs on eight hits in each of his two outings.

Key Injuries

The Padres are getting closer to adding starting pitching reinforcements, as right-hander Griffin Canning could be ready to join the rotation next week.

In the bullpen, right-handed reliever Jeremiah Estrada has started a rehab assignment, and could be set to rejoin the team next week, too.

Pivetta and Joe Musgrove remain without timetables to return.

As for the Cubs, they've been ravaged by injuries to their pitching staff, as the team currently has 11 pitchers on the injured list

They are expected to get some help this week, though, as right-handed pitcher Phil Maton is scheduled to be activated during this week's series against the Padres.

Bold Predictions

This should be a great series that heavily favors the Cubs in terms of pitching. However, the Padres will battle, as they've done all year, to take two of three games.

Offensively, Manny Machado will stay red-hot, hitting multiple home runs in the series. Miguel Andujar will also hit his first long ball of the year.

On the pitching side, Waldron will put together his best start of the year, getting the win in the series finale after allowing just two runs over five innings of work. It could end up being his final start if Canning is able to return next week. However, it will at least keep him in the conversation to remain in the rotation.

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