SAN DIEGO, CA - MAY 10: Ryan Christenson took over interim manager duties with manager Bob Melvin out against the Chicago Cubs at Petco Park on Tuesday, May 1o, 2022 in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres meet in game 2 of series
San Diego Padres (4-6) vs. San Francisco Giants (3-5)
San Francisco; Saturday, 9:05 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Padres: Michael King (1-0, 6.14 ERA, 2.18 WHIP, 11 strikeouts); Giants: Keaton Winn (0-1, 5.40 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, six strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Padres -110, Giants -109; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The San Francisco Giants lead 1-0 in a three-game series against the San Diego Padres.
San Francisco had a 79-83 record overall and a 45-36 record at home last season. The Giants scored 4.2 runs per game while giving up 4.4 last season.
San Diego had an 82-80 record overall and a 38-43 record on the road last season. The Padres averaged 8.1 hits per game last season while batting a collective .244 and slugging .413.
INJURIES: Giants: Luke Jackson: 15-Day IL (back), Sean Hjelle: 15-Day IL (elbow), Alex Cobb: 15-Day IL (hip), Ethan Small: 60-Day IL (oblique), Austin Warren: 60-Day IL (elbow), Tristan Beck: 60-Day IL (arm), Robbie Ray: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Padres: Tucupita Marcano: 10-Day IL (knee), Glenn Otto: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Luis Patino: 15-Day IL (elbow)
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The St. Louis Cardinals will try to avoid being April Fools against the San Diego Padres
After dropping three of four games in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, the St. Louis Cardinals are in San Diego to take on the Padres. The Padres are 3-3 according to Baseball Reference. The split a two-game series with the Dodgers and a four-game series with San Francisco Giants.
Slated to pitch for the Padres are Matt Waldron, Yu Darvish, and Joe Musgrove. The Cardinals are pretty familiar with both Darvish and Musgrove, especially Darvish from his years with the Chicago Cubs. Baseball Savant shows Darvish threw nine different pitches at least one time in 2023. We can break that down into basically two levels of volume: he threw a sinker, sweeper, slider, and four seamer 17%-18% of the time and he threw a cutter, split finger, knuckle curve, and curveball 5%-9% of the time. His best pitch varies from season to season per run value, but when Darvish is at his best, the slider is usually the pitch that is working for him.
Like Darvish, Musgrove also has a large arsenal of pitches. In 2023 he threw a four seamer and curveball around 24% of the time, mixed in a cutter about 20% of the time, and then occasionally place a slider and changeup along with a sinker. His slider was once his best pitch, but in recent years the cutter has taken more of a role. The slider seems to work well off the cutter, dropping perfectly in the outside corner of the zone for a nearly 34% Wiff rate in 2023.
