These teams meet for the first time since the Cubs defeated the Padres in last year’s tightly-fought Wild Card Series. Both teams are off to good starts in 2026; perhaps they will meet again in October.
For more on the Padres, here’s Matt DeWalt, manager of our SB Nation Padres site Gaslamp Ball.
The San Diego Padres got off to a rough start to the season dropping the first two series at home against the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants, leaving them with a 2-4 record. Since that time, the Padres have
won six consecutive series heading into a road matchup with the Arizona Diamondbacks in Mexico City. Tons of runs were scored in that two-game set, which the teams split.
The story of the season has been the San Diego bullpen, which is anchored by Mason Miller. The right-hander has been dominant to this point and has thrown 34.2 consecutive innings (including the end of the 2025 season) without allowing a run, while giving up just seven hits with 69 strikeouts. Miller has converted all of his 10 save opportunities on the year.
The starting rotation has taken some hits with Yu Darvish out for the season, Joe Musgrove still not back after Tommy John surgery in 2024, and Nick Pivetta being placed on the IL with a flexor strain. Michael King leads the staff and is joined by Randy Vasquez, Walker Buehler and German Marquez. Matt Waldron was called up from Triple-A, but did not look good in his first two starts against the Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies.
The San Diego offense has shown signs of life and appears to have discovered some of the slug that was missing during the 2025 season. The most surprising player without a home run for the Padres is Fernando Tatis Jr. He is still contributing with hits and driving in and scoring runs, but the goose egg in the HR column is a bit alarming to the Friar Faithful. Ramon Laureano has solidified the leadoff spot and has been one of the best offensive players for San Diego along with Xander Bogaerts.
New Padres manager Craig Stammen has shown a willingness to shakeup the lineup and has stressed his desire to make rest days a priority for players like Manny Machado, Jake Cronenworth and Bogaerts. He uses his bench depth to achieve that goal. Stammen seems to be pulling all the right levers as his team sits at 18-9 and is tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL West lead. We will have to see if Stammen and the San Diego roster can maintain this level of play as the season progresses.
Fun facts
San Diego is the only current National League city other than Chicago at which the Cubs have a winning record. They are 133-129, .508.
But they lost two of three each of the past two years, after having split four games in 2023. From 2018-22, the Cubs had gone 9-4 in San Diego.
(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Probable pitching matchups
Monday: Matthew Boyd, LHP (1-1, 5.79 ERA, 1.143 WHIP, 1.56 FIP) vs. Randy Vasquez, RHP (2-0, 1.88 ERA, 1.081 WHIP, 2.53 FIP)
Tuesday: Edward Cabrera, RHP (2-0, 2.73 ERA, 1.180 WHIP, 3.63 FIP) vs. Walker Buehler, RHP (1-2, 5.75 ERA, 1.623 WHIP, 3.27 FIP)
Wednesday: Jameson Taillon, RHP (1-1, 4.55 ERA, 1.301 WHIP, 6.02 FIP) vs. Matt Waldron, RHP (0-1, 12.46 ERA, 2.308 WHIP, 6.24 FIP)
Times & TV channels
Monday: 8:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, streaming on Peacock (Padres broadcast)
Tuesday: 8:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Padres market territories)
Wednesday: 3:10 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Prediction
This will not be an easy series. The Padres are a very good team and are 9-4 at home this year. They’ve had to travel from Denver to Mexico City to San Diego over the last week, though. Maybe they’ll be tired from playing at altitude for a week. (Yes, I’m reaching.) I’m going to say the Cubs will get good outings from Boyd and Cabrera and win two of three.
Up next
The Cubs have Thursday off, then return to Wrigley Field for a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks beginning Friday afternoon.
