Cubs Win 6 Straight With A Historic Offensive Week

Good morning Chicago fans! I hope you’re sipping coffee while you kick back and read this on your day off!

It’s too bad the Cubs don’t get the day off. Of all the hard workers in America, they deserve to be celebrated today. In the 130 years since Labor Day became a national holiday, they have scored more runs than they have in their last 10 games (99) ONE time. In 1930.

RESULTS

W - Cubs 18, Pirates 8: Unbelievable 21-hit night for the Cubs!!!

• The offense EXPLODED! Dansby Swanson hit a grand slam, Miguel Amaya and Seiya Suzuki each had 4 hits, every starter got a hit, 2 HR, 7 doubles, 10-for-24 with runners in scoring position

• 8 steals as a team was the most since 1911 ⚡

W - Cubs 9, Pirates 5: This offense is on 🔥🔥🔥 Cubs made it above .500!

• 2-R HRs by Swanson and Suzuki highlighted a big 5-run 4th inning

  • Swanson’s mom was in the crowd on her birthday! A HR was a very thoughtful present!

• Justin Steele was forced to wash off his right arm during the game because the umps saw rosin, but he threw well in the heat (5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K)

W - Cubs 14, Pirates 10: Finally finished off a sweep 🧹 in a combined 32-hit game

• The Cubs came back from a 10-3 deficit with 2, 3, and 6 runs scored in the final 3 innings!

• Kyle Hendricks got rocked for 6 ER in only 1.2 IP. The bullpen steadied the ship and shutout the Pirates over the last 4 innings of the game.

• This offense is literally insane - new Cubs legend Christian Bethancourt had a 7-RBI GAME out of the 9-hole, Pete Crow-Armstrong went 4-for-4, Ian Happ had 3 hits

W - Cubs 7, Nationals 6: The winning streak continued despite a beaten up bullpen

• All 7 runs were scored in the 2nd inning thanks to 11 batters going to the plate, 6 hits, and a Cody Bellinger 2-R HR

• Tyson Miller, Drew Smyly, and Keegan Thompson all pitched in the 9th inning as a 7-3 lead quickly slipped away

W - Cubs 5, Nationals 3: A low scoring game??? Still a W

• A 4-run 5th inning was all the Cubs needed against old friend DJ Herz who was traded away for Jeimer Candelario last year at the deadline

• Javier Assad made it through the 6th for a quality start (6 IP, 8 H, 3 ER)

W - Cubs 14, Nationals 1: Back to back sweeps 🧹🧹 6 game winning streak!

• Another ridiculous double digit run total with 18 hits!! Swanson had 4 hits, PCA had 3 hits, and 4 others had 2 hits

• Jordan Wicks returned from injury on his birthday to make his first start since June 14th (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K)

  • Wicks may be taking Hendricks’ spot in the rotation 😎

WEEK RECORD: 6-0

SEASON RECORD: 71-66 (2nd place, 9 GB, 3 GB Wild Card)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Dansby Swanson

I think 7 guys could have won this week…but Dansby is locked in!

8-for-23 (.347), 9 R, 2 HR, 11 RBI

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

PCA throw & Nico tag 💪

ROSTER MOVES

Tuesday: Placed Julian Merryweather on the 15-day IL with right knee tendinitis, optioned Jack Neely to AAA, recalled Daniel Palencia and Keegan Thompson from AAA

Friday: Claimed RHP Shawn Armstrong off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals, released C Tomas Nido

Saturday: Activated Shawn Armstrong, optioned Daniel Palencia to AAA

Sunday: Activated Jordan Wicks from the 60-day IL, recalled Miles Mastrobuoni from AAA (MLB rosters expanded! Welcome to September!)

NEWS & NOTES

Drew Smyly was placed on waivers but ended up remaining with the team. Other teams could have claimed him and picked up his salary for the remainder of the year.

Pirates 1B Rowdy Tellez pitched in Monday’s blowout and took advantage of the worst strike call in the majors this season. Brutal call by umpire Scott Barry.

Jeff Passan confirmed what we all assumed - the Cubs are not expected to make a big offer to Juan Soto this winter (see Hitting The Links below).

Craig Counsell said someone gifted him a Taylor Swift candle, and they have been lighting the candle before every game. They add a tally to the candle for every win. The Cubs are now crediting Taylor Swift for their recent stretch of good baseball 🤔 what is happening this season...

Old friend Nick Castellanos drove in all 3 Phillies runs last night to defeat the Braves and bring the Cubs a bit closer (3 GB) to the last Wild Card spot

If you’re a fan of stats, here are some crazy ones showing how ridiculous the Cubs offense has been:

Scored 10+ runs 5 times in the last 10 games. Only 4 times in the first 127 games.

Scored 14+ runs 4 times in the last 8 games.

18-8 August, 8-1 road trip, 8 of 9 series wins

wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created +) since Aug. 1: Amaya 156, PCA 153, Happ 147, Seiya 134

Runs scored in:

April - 135 (2nd in MLB), May - 99 (26th), June - 99 (27th), July - 110 (17th), August - 155 (3rd)

At the trade deadline at the end of July, Jed Hoyer said he would evaluate the offense over the last two months of the season. He now has 2 great months, 2 awful months, and 1 OK month to evaluate an extremely confusing team.

TROPHY TRACKER (6/10 ➡ 🏆)

53-MAN ROSTER

Cut day arrived as the Bears finalized their regular season roster heading into Week 1 on September 8th. After moving players to IR and making a few more transactional moves, their active roster looks like this:

QB: Caleb Williams, Tyson Bagent

RB: D’Andre Swift, Khalil Herbert, Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer

FB: Khari Blasingame

WR: DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, Tyler Scott, DeAndre Carter, Velus Jones Jr.

TE: Cole Kmet, Gerald Everett, Marcedes Lewis

OL: Braxton Jones, Teven Jenkins, Coleman Shelton, Nate Davis, Darnell Wright, Doug Kramer, Ryan Bates, Bill Murray, Matt Pryor, Kiran Amegadjie

DE: Montez Sweat, DeMarcus Walker, Austin Booker, Dominique Robinson, Darrell Taylor, Daniel Hardy

DT: Andrew Billings, Gervon Dexter, Zacch Pickens, Chris Williams

LB: Tremaine Edmunds, TJ Edwards, Jack Sanborn, Amen Ogbongbemiga, Noah Sewell

CB: Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, Kyler Gordon, Terell Smith, Jaylon Jones, Josh Blackwell

S: Jaquan Brisker, Kevin Byard, Jonathan Owens, Elijah Hicks

K: Cairo Santos, P: Tory Taylor: LS: N/A (will be Scott Daly for Week 1)

Players on IR: WR Dante Pettis, LS Patrick Scales, OL Larry Borom, DE Jacob Martin, WR Nsimba Webster, RB Ian Wheeler

No real surprises for the final spots on the roster. I have a few thoughts:

• 6 defensive ends is A LOT. And another is on IR. Maybe someone gets bumped when other positions get elevated to the active roster due to injuries. It’s fun seeing Daniel Hardy get a chance after a big preseason!

• 10 offensive linemen is also A LOT. But I agree with what Ryan Poles said this week: this is the best depth he’s had at OL since he arrived. Bates is currently the 6th man since he has been injured, Pryor and Murray seem like capable backups, and Amegadjie only just sniffed the practice fields.

• It’s OK that Velus Jones is on the roster. Leave it alone.

• Dominique Robinson and Noah Sewell are two late-round draft picks that still have a LOT to prove to keep their spots

• I’m intrigued by DeAndre Carter. I did not expect him to make the team when he was signed, but now I expect him to get meaningful snaps on offense. He had his best season as a WR in LA with WR coach Chris Beatty. He may return punts as well, but so may some random guy on the street before the season is over.

• 2 calendar years after the first 53-man roster was released in the Ryan Poles era - this team is completely new. Only 5 current players (including Scales) were on the Bears before he got hired 😮

The Practice Squad was also finalized, including QB Austin Reed, CB Reddy Steward, and others.

HARD KNOCKS

Episode 4 had some good moments, but it feels like Hard Knocks is getting social media level stories instead of the inside scoops. Maybe the next episode will dive deeper into the front office’s methods or Caleb Williams’ life in Chicago?

🏈 Xs and Os: We got a full collection of scenes focused on Caleb Williams learning how to spike the ball. He practiced technique on the field, he had a meeting to watch tape that showed other quarterbacks’ mistakes, and we heard how much a spike can change the outcome of a game.

😎 Favorite Scene: S Adrian Colbert told his story. He was hit by a car when he was 9 years old and almost died. The doctors told him he would never play football again. He’s visibly grateful to be around the facility and with his teammates every day. Unfortunately, he was not on the 53-man roster released earlier in the day before this episode 🤷‍♂️ (See one bonus favorite scene in A Citywide Salute below)

🤢 Disturbing Scene: RB Ian Wheeler got injured in the final preseason game vs. the Chiefs and was taken to the locker room. He texted his mom when he found out he tore his ACL, and we saw her live reaction. That was heartbreaking to watch. Wheeler had a chance to make the roster but instead has to rehab for an entire season, and his mom had to handle the news and go comfort her son.

😂 Funny Scene: At the end of the Chiefs game, QB Austin Reed rallied the guys in the huddle: “We talk about legendary teams…we talk about the Patriots. We talk about the Legion of Boom. We talk about the ‘85 Bears. They’re gonna talk about the ‘24 preseason Bears!”

💲 Showoff: On the backup quarterback excursion to the Skydeck in Chicago, Tyson Bagent was the only one to walk on the glass with no hesitation. The other 2 guys were pretty freaked out by the views and the clicking underneath them.

❌ I’m Done: Travis Bagent, Tyson’s dad, had WAY too much screen time. I get it, he’s strong and arm wrestles. He also yells all the time. It’s great he supports his son, but let’s get him off this show.

NEWS & NOTES

Cole Kmet found out that Caleb Williams keeps his Heisman Trophy at home next to a LEGO set 😂

QB Brett Rypien is off the team but staying in the division! He signed to the Vikings active roster after being released by the Bears.

GM Ryan Poles is already on the road scouting for the NFL Draft. He spent the holiday weekend at 3 different college football games.

TROPHY TRACKER (6/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

Recent signing G Laurent Brossoit had meniscus surgery on his right knee and will miss 5-7 weeks. The first game of the season was 6 weeks away from the day of his surgery.

This is a tough blow for a guy coming into a new organization. He’ll most likely miss all of training camp instead of ramping up for the season and getting accustomed to life on the ice as a Blackhawk.

I’m curious when the injury took place. I assume this happened after he signed!

Arvid Soderblom will most likely get a lot of looks during camp and preseason, even though Brossoit will still slot in as the #2 goalie once healthy.

TROPHY TRACKER (2/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

No news this week!

TROPHY TRACKER (1/10 ➡ 🏆)

Ryan Poles

The Bears GM has always cared about his players as people.

At the end of this week’s Hard Knocks episode, we see a conversation between him and RB Ian Wheeler after the injury news.

Poles tells Wheeler that he is going on IR, which will allow him to stay with the team and learn while he rehabs.

I appreciate seeing his empathy, clear communication, and his ability to share genuine belief in his players.

Poles: “My door is always open. My phone is always on. If you want to talk, you want to cry, if you want…whatever you need to do…I’m here for you. You’re a part of the team.”

Predicting the Bears to win 7 or less games is objectively crazy.

I already broke down how much I think the Bears improved over the offseason. A 7-win team that blew late leads, had no defense for the first four weeks, had no quarterback, and had no offensive scheme can easily increase its win total.

Another major factor will be the division games. The NFC North continues to look like a strong division, and there will be no easy matchups. The Bears were 2-4 in the division last year and definitely need to finish with a winning record this season.

The Bears roster stacks up well against the Lions, Packers, and Vikings. It might be because fans are scarred from this team’s history, but many don’t want to admit or believe that the roster is good. It is.

Here are the number of starting players from each division rival that I think are better than the corresponding Bears player at the same position (WR1 vs. WR1, WR2 vs. WR2, C vs. C, etc.):

Lions: Offense - 7 (QB as of today, entire OL, TE), Defense - 3 (DT, S, S)

Packers: Offense - 2 (QB as of today, C), Defense - 2 (DT, DE2)

Vikings: Offense - 3 (WR1, LT, C), Defense - 1 (S)

With 22 starters between the offense and defense, I have the totals at:

Bears 12 vs. Lions 10, Bears 18 vs. Packers 4, Bears 18 vs. Vikings 4

Put away your fear from the past. Put away your doubts about Caleb Williams. The Bears are good!

Corey Pronman - Blackhawks #1 ranked pipeline in the NHL (The Athletic)

Patrick Finley - George McCaskey interview (Chicago Sun-Times)

Jeff Passan - Early MLB free agency preview (ESPN)

Adam Jahns - Cole Kmet & his athletic family (The Athletic)

Gabby Hajduk - Day in the life of the Bears equipment team (chicagobears.com)

Sahadev Sharma - How Miguel Amaya’s turnaround impacts the future at catcher (The Athletic)

Brad Biggs - Telling Bears players they have been cut (Chicago Tribune)

NFL Spotlight - Bears Assistant GM Ian Cunningham interview (X)

Chicago Bears - Rookie Diaries: Austin Booker & Tory Taylor - Week 6 (chicagobears.com)

Thanks for reading! We finally made it to a Bears week! 🐻⬇

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