Theo Epstein visited the Chicago Cubs in San Diego on Tuesday, saying he is providing "moral support" for the reigning champions amid their ongoing struggles and insisting no drastic changes are imminent.

Epstein was on the West Coast scouting and decided to watch the final two games of the Padres series.

"It's more important to be around when the team is struggling than when they're doing well," Epstein said. "Showing moral support can be good from time to time. Take the heat off of others when the team is scuffling."

The Cubs are 25-26 after losing to the Padres on Tuesday night.

Carlos Zambrano will return to the mound, but it remains to be seen if he will aim to make a Major League comeback.

Zambrano, 36, will pitch in the Venezuelan Winter League. He last pitched in the Major Leagues in 2012 and spent time in the Minor Leagues in 2013.

The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-5 on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field to give Joe Maddon his 1,000th victory as a Major League manager.

Maddon is the eighth active manager to reach the milestone. He celebrated with a glass of red wine made by Big Smooth Wines out of Lodi, California in the press room.

"I've seen a lot of different methods," Maddon said with the glass of wine waiting on the table in front of him. "I've been taught well, and I really want to say, it's 1,000 wins. Other guys have done it, but to the players that have been a part of this, I want to say thank you -- because you don't do this without really good players. You don't."

The Chicago Cubs are struggling to begin the season, but Theo Epstein isn't worried.

"Right around this time last year we were 25-6 and I was getting asked non-sarcastic questions about how we were going to manage the push for the greatest record of all time versus resting guys for the playoffs and I called B.S. on that and now I'm getting asked if we're going to send everyday guys down to Triple A ... or if we're going to consider selling. I call B.S. on that too," Epstein said.

The Cubs are 19-19 after winning the World Series last season and have a losing record at home.

"There's no panic but there's a lot of guys that care about playing up to our capabilities," Epstein said. "You never know where the bottom is or what catalytic event is going to be that turns things around."

Joe Maddon engaged in a sarcastic rant on safety on Sunday morning after going off on the subject after a loss on Saturday as well.

The slide rule at second base cost the Chicago Cubs a run in Saturday's 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

"I have some other additions to it," Maddon said. "We should eliminate the headfirst slide. That is a dangerous slide. Your hand could [get hurt], your eye could get poked out. All these different things can occur on a headfirst slide.

"I think face masks should be mandatory for all hitters. And pitchers have been hit in the head by line drives several times, so pitchers should be forced to wear helmets."

Maddon thinks Major League Baseball has gone too far in the name of protecting players due to isolated incidents over the years.

"I have no idea why these rules are part of our game," Maddon said. "There was an out created there. That was just one out they did not have to earn. I totally, absolutely disagree with that. It has nothing to do with safety and protecting the middle infielder."

Maddon took the night to think of other ways the league can keep players safe. Face masks and no headfirst slides were just a couple of his "ideas."

Joe Maddon believes fatigue is the reason why the Chicago Cubs have endured a slow start to the season.

"I sense sleep deprivation more than anything," Maddon said. "Sleep deprivation has a lot to do with it. Right from the beginning of the year our schedule has been awkward. No one has had a chance to settle in."

In the span of eight days, recently, the Cubs played two Sunday night affairs followed by overnight travel plus a 13-inning and 18-inning game. The latter contest came Sunday, forcing the Cubs to land in Denver at 5 a.m. local time.

The Cubs are 17-17, 2.5 games back of first place in the National League Central.

Miguel Montero had strong words for the Chicago Cubs after losing to the Colorado Rockies in the opener of Tuesday's doubleheader.

"The reality is, we can't take anything for granted, and right now, I feel like we do," Montero said between games. "Honestly, we're just not playing at our highest level. We have to shake it up, wake up. This will be a good wake-up call for us. We either come to play the right way or we're going to have a short season."

The matinee loss was Chicago's fourth in a row before they won the second game to improve to 17-16 on the season.

Fans attending a charity concert in Boston put on by Theo Epstein accidentally damaged the Chicago Cubs' World Series trophy.

Epstein hosted the "Hot Stove Cool Music" benefit concert last weekend. Two of the trophies Epstein had a hand in winning -- last season's and the Boston Red Sox's from 2004 -- made the rounds like crowd surfers.

An Instagram post shows Epstein begging fans to bring the trophies back up to the front, but the damage had already been done.

According to a Boston Globe report, some of the flags on the Cubs' trophy were dinged up, requiring the trophy to be repaired.

The Chicago Cubs and Kris Bryant made little progress on a contract extension this offseason.

"I guess it’s a little early,” Bryant told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I still feel super young. I'm still getting used to all of this playing at this level. I'll listen to whatever they have to say, but I just think that it might be in my best interest to just play it out and see where things go. I'd rather just now focus on baseball and playing and not have any other distractions off the field like that, just because it'll take away from my play on the field."

Bryant, drafted second overall in 2013, won't reach free agency until after the 2021 season.

The Boston Red Sox finished the 2014 season two games worse than the Chicago Cubs, earning them the seventh pick while the Cubs selected ninth.

Ironically enough, the Cubs swept the Red Sox at midseason, essentially setting the draft over over the course of three games. If the Red Sox beat the Cubs in just one of those three games, Chicago would have gotten the higher pick based on a tiebreaker.

Chicago held Andrew Benintendi in high regard, but the Red Sox selected him at No. 7 the following June.

"His agent heard from the Cubs that he was the guy they wanted," said Chris Benintendi, Andrew Benintendi's father. "But obviously he didn't fall that far."

The Cubs took Ian Happ, who entered Friday with a .259/.344/.593 line and eight homers in 20 Triple A contests this year.

Benintendi is happy where he landed even though the Cubs won the World Series last fall.

"There wasn't really one team, except the Red Sox, honestly, that stood out [in the draft process]," Benintendi said. "It's worked out well so far. It's fun to play here. I'm happy with where I am now. Obviously they broke their drought, but we're going to try to not let them repeat."