Jackson Merrill (hamstring) did some bunting on the field on Tuesday, the early stages of beginning to ramp up baseball activity. But he has not yet begun to jog. Brandon Lockridge could, however, begin to do some light jogging as soon as Wednesday as he reported significant improvement with his hamstring strain, to the point where he’s relatively hopeful that he’ll be “good to go” on Day 11 of his injured-list stint.
In the meantime, the Padres need a center fielder.
On Monday, Tyler Wade got the start.
On Tuesday, the Padres (14-3) will turn to 35-year-old Jason Heyward. The left-handed hitter hasn’t started against a left-hander yet this season — the Cubs are throwing left-hander Shota Imanaga in the 6:40 p.m. start (Padres.TV) — but he’s a five-time Gold Glover who has logged 1,560 innings in the majors in center field.
He might have only seven innings in center field since the start of the 2024 season, but he’s as experienced in that spot as anyone on the 40-man roster.
“You look up and you go, ‘Gosh, there’s Jason Heyward sitting there, who does have multiple Gold Gloves and has played a lot of center field,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt, who saw plenty of Heyward’s work in center with the Cubs when he was in the Cardinals’ dugout. “Last night after the game when I told him, I said, ‘You know, I’ve seen it a lot of years on the other side. I’m ready to see it on this side.’ And big smile to his face.
“A veteran guy that knows how to play the position, for sure.”
The bat is coming around, too, after starting the season 0-for-10. Heyward hit his first home run as a Padre on Saturday, went 1-for-5 with an RBI in Monday’s win and is hitting .276/.333/.414 over his last 11 games.
“It’s a process,” Heyward said Saturday night. “It’s a part of it, especially in a role like mine, having some games on the road where it’s lefty starters, you’ve got to be ready to go off the bench, whatever that looks like. But all that aside, it’s the process. You got to fall in love with the process.”
- RF Fernando Tatis Jr.
- 1B Luis Arraez
- 3B Manny Machado
- SS Xander Bogaerts
- LF Oscar Gonzalez
- DH Yuli Gurriel
- 2B Jose Iglesias
- CF Jason Heyward
- C Martin Maldonado
Heyward will hit eighth in Tuesday’s lineup, between second baseman Jose Iglesias, the de facto starter with Jake Croneworth (rib) on the injured list, and catcher Martín Maldonado.
With a left-hander on the mound, Oscar Gonzalez will start in left field and Yuli Gurriel will serve as the DH, sending Gavin Sheets to a pinch-hitting role.
Here is how the Cubs (11-8) will line up for Game 2:
- LF Ian Happ
- RF Kyle Tucker
- DH Justin Turner
- 1B Michael Busch
- SS Dansby Swanson
- 2B Nico Hoerner
- CF Pete Crow-Armstrong
- C Miguel Amaya
- 3B Gage Workman
A happy Hoeing
Bryan Hoeing could hardly contain his smile. He was still breathing a bit heavy after throwing 25 pitches in his fifth bullpen in his ramp up from a shoulder strain, but this was the first with all of his off-speed offerings. More importantly …
“Without pain and feeling good,” Hoeing said. “That’s come a long way. There was a lot of hard work. But finally I feel like the hard work is paying off with the bullpen today.”
Hoeing will head back to the Peoria Sports Complex shortly for a living batting practice, the next step as he progresses toward a minor league rehab assignment.
“You get a little taste of this here and I have to go back, it stinks,” Hoeing said, still smiling. “It’s like a little tease. But just happy to be with the guys for a couple days.”
Still booing him
Justin Turner’s 26 homers against the Padres are more than he’s hit against any other opponent in his 17-year career, including nine years with the Dodgers.
He knows that. His new Cubs teammates do not, so they rightfully raised an eyebrow when a crowd of 47,078 booed the 40-year-old veteran during his first at-bat on Monday and each one after that. Turner has not been a Dodger since the Padres eliminated them in the 2022 NLDS.
“A lot of guys were like, ‘Man, they love you here, huh?” Turner said with a laugh. “Honestly, I’m glad they’re booing me. It means I did some good things here in the past. If they weren’t booing me, I probably didn’t do too much to help them lose games.”
As far as the size of the crowd, the third-largest in Petco Park history — on a Monday night, no less — pales in comparison to the 31,119 that attended a Friday night game in Turner’s first appearance here with the Dodgers in June 2014.
“I think last night was Padre Hawaiian shirt giveaway, which apparently is a pretty big night in the stadium,” Turner said with a laugh. “No, I think obviously over the last four or five years they’ve been putting a good product on the field and the fans are loving it and showing up and they are excited. It’s a good environment.”
Tuesday’s pitching matchup
Cubs LHP Shota Imanaga (2-1, 2.70 ERA)
He’d thrown back-to-back quality starts before allowing five runs in six innings to the Texas Rangers. His second win of the season was beating the Padres earlier this month with 7⅓ innings of one-run ball at Wrigley Field. The only run crossed the plate on a home run from Jackson Merrill, who is on the injured list.
Here is how Imanaga has fared against current, active Padres:
Padres RHP Randy Vásquez (1-1, 1.72 ERA)
He has 12 walks through 15⅔ innings, but left-handed hitters have a .222/.323/.259 batting line off him to start the year, well below last year’s numbers (.365/.421/.539). Vásquez allowed three runs — two earned — in 4⅔ innings in a loss at Wrigley Field on April 5. He walked five against two strikeouts that day and has twice as many walks (12) as strikeouts (6) through 15⅔ innings.
Here is how Vasquez has fared against current Cubs:
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