Cubs Drop To Below .500

Good morning Chicago fans! It’s a tough time to be a Cubs fan. The losses keep stacking, and the games are hard to watch. Hopefully you survive the upcoming week without being called any names for your baseball loyalty. And if Brewers or Cardinals or any other fans show up and hurl insults at you, remember that Craig Counsell already received the worst of it.

TROPHY TRACKER

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Results:

L - Brewers 5, Cubs 1

The Cubs’ losing streak extended to 5 games in Craig Counsell’s boo-filled return to Milwaukee.

• Justin Steele got back on track with 7 shutout innings (3 H, 1 BB, 8 K)

• The Brewers broke the 0-0 tie with a 5-run 8th inning. Nick Madrigal had a costly error, and Mark Leiter Jr. and Hayden Wesneski each gave up 2 earned runs.

W - Cubs 6, Brewers 3 (F/10)

This game had just about everything you could imagine in a single evening of baseball, and the Cubs pulled off the win in extras!

• Ben Brown threw 7 no-hit innings in a dominant performance 🔥 (2 BB, 8 K)

  • Cody Bellinger robbed a home run in the 7th inning to preserve the no-hitter

  • Wesneski pitched the 8th and gave up a single to end the no-hit bid

• Hector Neris blew the save after a questionable balk call that eventually led to the game-tying run

• A 5-run 10th inning won the game with a string of 5 hits and a line drive that knocked Brewers pitcher Trevor Megill out of the game

L - Brewers 10, Cubs 6

Shōta Imanaga had his first bad start in MLB, and the Cubs couldn’t dig out of an early hole.

• Shōta gave up 7 ER in 4.2 IP, and Kyle Hendricks gave up 3 ER to finish out the game

• The offense carried some momentum over from their 10th inning victory - Ian Happ hit a HR, 4 players had 2 hits, and Dansby Swanson barely missed a grand slam in the 5th inning that would have given the Cubs an 8-7 lead

L - Brewers 6, Cubs 4

The Brewers fended off a couple late rallies to officially spoil Counsell’s return to Milwaukee and won the 4-game series.

• Seiya Suzuki (7th inning) and Christopher Morel (8th inning) each hit a game-tying HR as the Cubs fought to stay alive, but the bullpen couldn’t shut down the Brewers

• Jameson Taillon had a tough 2nd inning where he gave up 3 runs, but he settled in and ended up with the quality start (6.0 IP, 3 ER)

L - Reds 5, Cubs 4

Anyone remember the old TV show 1,000 Ways to Die? ☠ This Cubs team keeps finding ways to lose. A rough day from the umpires ended with a brutal send home from 3rd base coach Willie Harris as the Reds got the W.

• Reds pinch-hitter Santiago Espinal launched a 2-run HR off of Drew Smyly in the 7th inning to give them a 4-3 lead

• Nick Madrigal pinch-hit for Patrick Wisdom with runners on 1st and 2nd and 0 outs in the 9th inning. After getting hit by a pitch (the umps ruled that it hit the bat), he hit into a fielder’s choice. Seiya then hit a double to left and Madrigal was thrown out at home by a MILE.

  • Belli flied out to right to end the game (which would have tied the game if Madrigal was still at 3rd).

  • Even a bunt by Madrigal would have been more useful!

W - Cubs 7, Reds 5

The fans at Wrigley Field endured a 3-hour, 20-minute rain delay and stayed loud through a crazy slugfest!

• Seiya Suzuki had quite the redemption arc in a single inning: he dropped an easy flyball with the bases loaded and 2 outs to allow 3 runs, then he hit a grand slam in the bottom of the inning (you have to watch his bat spike!)

• Dansby Swanson hit a game-winning 2-run HR in the 8th inning

L - Reds 5, Cubs 2

Ben Brown had a rough outing as the Cubs lost their sixth straight series.

• TJ Friedl highlighted a 4-run 2nd inning for the Reds with a 3-run HR

• Cubs bullpen allowed 0 runs for the 2nd straight game (Drew Smyly 1.0 IP, Kyle Hendricks 3.0 IP)

• Cubs hit 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position

Week Record: 2-5

Season Record: 29-31 (3rd place - 7.5 GB)

Star of the Week: Seiya Suzuki

Despite his costly misplay in right field, Seiya has been on fire at the plate.

He hit 9-for-27 (.333) with 2 HRs and 7 RBI this week!

Play of the Week: Cody Bellinger Home Run Robbery

Roster Moves:

• Thursday: Recalled Pete Crow-Armstrong from AAA, optioned Luis Vazquez to AAA

• Sunday: Recalled David Bote from AAA, optioned Nick Madrigal to AAA

  • Ah, memories of Bote’s walk-off grand slam vs. the Nationals in 2018

  • I won’t forget that Bote signed a 5-year, $15M extension in April 2019 after a really solid 74 games in 2018. After giving Bote the extension, Theo Epstein said, “The contract works very well for us if he just stays in the role that he’s in now, and if he exceeds it, it could represent some value for us.” How does it look now, Theo?

• P Julio Teheran opted out of his minor-league contract

News & Notes:

• PCA dominated AAA after his earlier demotion and was named International League Player of the Week for the week of May 20-26

  • Hit .444 with 3 HRs and had 5 multi-hit games

• Pitching prospect Cade Horton left his start on Wednesday with right lat soreness and went to Chicago for evaluation

• I watched some future Cubs play baseball on Tuesday night as the South Bend Cubs lost to the Quad Cities River Bandits. It was fun seeing Jefferson Rojas! It was not fun to see extremely sloppy baseball that resembled a certain team in Chicago.

• Imagine an 83-79 2023 team (with an expected 90-72 Pythagorean record) adding a rookie 1B with power, 2 veteran relievers, a solid starter from Japan, and signing the best manager in baseball for $40M. And all we get is a worse team that forgot how to hit, run the bases, or field???

• Cubs finished a 10-18 May and look forward to a lighter schedule in June, featuring the Reds, White Sox, Rays, Cardinals, Giants, Mets, and Brewers

TROPHY TRACKER

1-2-3-4-5-❌-7-8-9-🏆

News & Notes:

• The Bears will be featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks this August 📺

  • Despite George McCaskey’s wishes to never be associated with the show, the Bears will have a TV production crew following every move this offseason.

  • We will get an inside look at training camp in a five-part series starting on Tuesday, August 6th.

  • The most exciting part of this news may be that nobody has to speculate anymore about whether or not the Bears will be forced to do the show.

  • Who knows, maybe this could end up being Episode One of the dynasty documentary in twenty years!

• Courtney Cronin wrote a great article on George McCaskey officiating youth sports

  • McCaskey was working a baseball game during Day 3 of the draft this year 👀

• OTAs continued, and the media were present on Friday

  • Caleb Williams had a much better day (compared to the previous Thursday, as mentioned in last week’s newsletter) - he completed 13-15 passes in 7-on-7 with a deep TD to DJ Moore

  • Many players (including most of the starting secondary) were not present since it is still a voluntary portion of the offseason program

• Golf outing for team bonding! Highlighted by a 338 yard drive by QB Brett Rypien and a game-winning putt by K Cairo Santos 💪

TROPHY TRACKER

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News & Notes:

• Signed F Martin Misiak (2023 2nd round pick) to a 3-year entry level contract at a $878,333 cap hit

• Re-signed F Zach Sanford (picked up on waivers during the 2023-2024 season) to a 1-year, 2-way contract at a $775,000 cap hit

• Scott Powers wrote about draft prospect D Anton Silayev and reported that the Blackhawks are NOT just considering the two players everyone seems to be discussing for the #2 pick (Demidov and Levshunov)

• Kyle Davidson was amused at all of the theories behind their recent trade involving draft picks. He told Phil Thompson in an interview that the trade was simply to acquire higher value, and it was not an indicator of another upcoming move.

TROPHY TRACKER

❌-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-🏆

News & Notes:

• Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo released a mock draft on ESPN based on intel received from front offices.

  • Bulls select F Ron Holland at #11

  • They mentioned the Bulls multiple times in potential trades! Bulls trade rumors! This never happens!!!

    • Potentially could move up to #3 (Rockets pick) or move up a few spots to draft C Donovan Clingan

• Former Bull Michael Carter-Williams was on the Thanalysis podcast and shared inside stories about his time on the team

  • He said Jimmy Butler once told coach Fred Hoiberg that he was soft and he didn’t like him 😮

Shōta Imanaga and Willie Harris

Two Cubs are Good Ones this week after Kyle Hendricks received the crown last week. The character on this team remains strong despite their record!

After giving up 7 ER in his first bad start all season, Shōta apologized to Craig Counsell after the game for his performance. He had only given up a total of 5 ER in his 9 starts and came into Wednesday’s game with a 0.84 ERA. I did not expect the Cubs’ most dominant player to hold himself accountable when the entire team had been struggling.

3B coach Willie Harris continued the accountability trend after sending Nick Madrigal home on the potential game-tying play on Friday. He likes to be aggressive but admitted it was a poor decision. Harris put the blame on himself for the loss and was adamant that the team would have his back.

Michael Busch should start at 1B every day.

Due to his struggles, Busch has lost playing time recently. In May, he hit .208 with a .712 OPS and only 2 home runs.

On a team with a non-existent offense, Craig Counsell started playing the matchup game more often to try different lineup combinations and benched the rookie who has not yet found consistency at the major league level.

I understand chasing wins and giving days off to struggling hitters. I don’t understand reducing playing time for a key young player who needs major league at-bats to develop.

Busch dominated AAA during his time in the Dodgers organization and was essentially handed the starting 1B job when the Cubs traded for him this offseason. The intent seemed to be clear - give Busch the opportunity he never received in LA to be a cornerstone 1B in the majors. A lefty power hitter with club control? Sign anybody up for that.

The plan does not need to change. If Busch develops and produces, the Cubs have 1B locked up for many years.

How does this happen now that PCA was recalled? No idea.

If PCA starts a game in CF, Bellinger has to play 1B, RF, or DH. If he plays 1B, Busch can DH, but Counsell has already started rearranging the deck chairs since PCA has been back in the mix. The Cubs seemingly don’t have any “open” spots for a team with a losing record.

Thanks for reading! As always, please reply with any comments or suggestions for future newsletters.

Enjoy the Crosstown Classic this week! I’m sure we’ll see a packed stadium and fundamentally sound baseball…