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Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-Imagn Images Winning baseball teams don't make you wonder what's coming next; they settle into repeatable rhythms. That's why it feels like the 2026 Cubs have a long way to go to call themselves one, even after a 16-6 streak that has carried them back into playoff position. Just one week removed from their signature series win versus the Brewers, Chicago made its way back home to 1060 W. Addison for the start of a three-game set with the San Diego Padres. No one in baseball has more walk-off victories than the Cardiac Cubs, and another dramatic offensive delivery from Seiya Suzuki gave them their latest in the opener of this series. Shota Imanaga proved that the best version of this club features him at his best, as well. He went 6 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs and punching out four. The home team locked up a 3-2 win. Stability on the mound is one of the glaring shortcomings of this squad. If you're invested in the team's fortunes, that should make Matthew Boyd's five-inning outing Tuesday even more encouraging. The oft-injured veteran scooped up his third win of the season. while his teammates got things going at the plate. Dansby Swanson continued his blistering hot streak with another multi-homer day. Joining him in the round-trip hit parade were Michael Busch, Alex Bregman, and Pete Crow-Armstrong in the squad's 9-7, series-clinching victory. Tying a franchise record for home runs set just one year ago, the Cubs blasted eight taters in a 23-3 laugher against the Friars Wednesday afternoon, earning their second sweep in the last three series. Swanson went ballistic, launching three home runs. He was joined by pretty much everyone else in the lineup, including stalwarts Michael Conforto and Seiya Suzuki. Days like this occur about as frequently as the city's rogue gator sightings, but they make it fun to dream about what this club could do when firing on all cylinders. A lousily-timed off day set them back, though. The Cardinals came to town Friday and thwacked the hosts, 17-1. David Peterson was shelled in his second start for the North Siders, failing to go four full innings of work. His colleagues on the offensive side of the ball didn't fare much better, punching in a paltry 1-for-8 with RISP. Fireworks exploded over foggy Wrigleyville skies for America's 250th birthday, but even the Cubs batters one could make out on TV were virtual no-shows Saturday night. A leadoff home run from JJ Wetherholt saddled Imanaga and his squad with an early deficit. Weather had delayed the start of the game, and it forced a 15-minute intermission late in the contest, too. The Cubs might as well have slipped away in the gloam; they lost 3-0. With all the resiliency such an inconsistent team needs, the North Siders salvaged the conclusion to their series with the Cards. A decisive sixth-inning rally, punctuated by a clutch, opposite-field single from Nico Hoerner flipped the momentum of the contest, giving the Cubs a 6-3 lead at the time. Two strong relief innings from Jacob Webb picked up a shaky return for Drew Pomeranz. The 6-4 win marked the squad's 50th victory of the season. If you don't establish some consistent identity, this game and its calendar will force one on you. Now, standing 10 games above .500, the North Siders hit the road to Baltimore and Cincinnati for a pair of three-game contests in the last full week of baseball before the Midsummer Classic. The second half looms, with several fate-altering moves yet to take place. They need to finish the unofficial first half strong, though, to prove that they're not cycling downward again, toward an ugly averageness that doesn't suit the roster or its payroll. View full article

Image courtesy of © Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images Depending on your age, you probably have some level of reverence for Disney sports movies. The feel-good tales, which reached ubiquity in the 1990s and early 2000s, feature scrappy but capable underdogs who inevitably—despite the daunting odds—triumph in the end. None of those fictional clubs had to deal with the injuries the Cubs are saddled with, though. Doing his best Gordon Bombay impression, Craig Counsell and his team stacked up a heartening string of much-needed wins, which left the rest of us wondering whether or not this squad really can pull off a Hollywood ending worthy of those beloved films. Threatening weather in Wrigleyville and Queens, respectively, gave the North Siders an unexpected two-day gap in competitions before kicking off their four-game set with the Mets at Citi Field last Tuesday. A resurgent Dansby Swanson and his squad's offense made it worth the wait. Feeding off the offensive energy of teammate Pete Crow-Armstrong, Swanson hammered a two-run shot to left field off Mets starter Kodai Senga, pushing Chicago's lead to 7-2 at the time. The standout shortstop collected four RBIs on the day to add to the three provided by Crow-Armstrong, whose excellence has become routine. While seizing a 9-6 victory in the opener, the squad once again had to reckon with crushing injury news, as starter Edward Cabrera suffered a multi-muscle leg strain while making a tough play covering first base. With gleeful supporters of Norway's men's World Cup soccer team looking on, Chicago's North Side Baseball club notched a cathartic sweep of the Mets in Wednesday's doubleheader. Javier Assad took the ball in Game One of the twin bill and, as he's been all year, was remarkable in 5 full innings of work. The story of this contest, however, was the way the whole club worked together, seeing strong showings from the offense and the pitching staff. Swanson's two-home run day set the tone for a team quickly rediscovering its potent offense at a time when it's an absolute necessity. Chicago's bullpen was magnificent, shutting down New York's brightest stars with a two-hit, zero-run combined outing from Ryan Rolison, Caleb Thielbar, and Tyler Ferguson. That allowed the visitors to cruise to a 10-3 win. Game Two of the doubleheader treated Cubs fans to excellent performances from Nico Hoerner and former All-Star starter Shota Imanaga. Length in starting pitching is not a luxury this squad has enjoyed at any point throughout this season, but with Imanaga's 5 1/3-inning outing serving as the latest example, they're starting to put things together a little more on the mound. Fans had waited too long for Hoerner's return to form, and that he found his way back in this contest earned the Cubs a hard-fought, high-offense sweep. His three-hit day kept his squad's offense on the field longer and allowed key rallies in the 10-5 win. With the series win secured, the North Siders turned their attention to a four-game sweep. Thanks to a cinematic go-ahead double into deep right field from Crow-Armstrong, they delivered. During the club's slow climb back into the division race, clutch at-bats from their biggest names have them building the momentum needed for long-term success. Instances such as Alex Bregman's RBI double point to a whole lineup of players getting back to their winning ways at just the right time. The 4-3 victory marked Chicago's seventh win in nine contests, earning it a winning record on this seven-game road trip. To ascend to the game's highest heights is to accept certain undeniable truths. The Chicago Cubs, like it or not, are chasing the class of big-league baseball, Pat Murphy's Milwaukee Brewers, and must thwart them to summit the peaks on which their gaze is fixed. Facing Jacob Misiorowski (arguably the best pitcher in the game), they began that long, hard job the only way one can: with a first step. A solo shot from the piping-hot Seiya Suzuki briefly had the Cubs out in front of the Cy Young-contending fireballer. Alas, Ian Happ's failure to come through in a two-out, bases-loaded scenario against "The Miz" let the Brewers off the hook, ultimately escaping with a 6-2 win in the opener of a three-game set in which the Cubs pen showed its weakness. One day later, the Cubs earned their first win of the season against Milwaukee, in a fifth try. Recently acquired starting pitcher David Peterson settled in wonderfully after surrendering a first-pitch solo shot to Jackson Chourio to start the game. Peterson was locked in from that point, getting through 5 2/3 innings of work, while his new team's offense did the rest. Joined by long flies from Ian Happ and Michael Conforto, Suzuki went deep for the second-straight day, assisting his squad to a relatively pain-free 8-2 victory. With rising temperatures set to ignite summertime in Chicago, the Cubs delivered the statement win of the year Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee. Ryan Rolison's two innings kicked off a bullpen day versus the Cream City's best. Chicago's depleted bullpen rapidly became a glaring weakness for a squad that had labored, falling short of solutions around every corner. But in front of a screaming crowd of over 45,000, the squad's relievers (led by a remarkable 4 1/3-inning outing from Bryse Wilson) demonstrated it deserves mention among the league's most resourceful. A wild pitch allowed the Cubs to tie the game late, leading to a pulse-pounding extra frame that will have supporters clad in Cubby Blue talking for weeks to come. As he has done so often in recent games, Seiya Suzuki came up big. He pumped a two-run single into left field, putting his club up 4-1. Three grueling, high-blood-pressure outs later, the North Siders emerged with their best series win of the year by a final score of 4-3. Believing in the unimaginable is taxing for each sports fan, but if you belong to Generation Underdog, you can still do it. With the San Diego Padres coming to Wrigley Field next for a three-game set, the North Siders are (arguably) right back in the race for the NL Central, sitting just 5.5 games back of Milwaukee. While their proximity to the top is of paramount importance, what Chicago did this past week—going 6-1 on a marathon road trip amid injuries that could have scuppered their hopes for good—would make a good turning point montage in one of those films. Now, to see whether art can really inspire life. View full article

Image courtesy of © John Hefti-Imagn Images If you stick with something long enough, eventually, you will see the fruits of your labor. Until very recently, as they flirted with a losing record, it seemed the 2026 North Siders were the glaring exception to that rule. The Chicago Cubs' persistent hardships have sent expectations for this squad speeding in the wrong direction. If Javier Assad is thinking about that, he certainly doesn't show it. Though buffeted by the baseball gods, injuries, and (at times) his own organization, Assad has remained unflappable. At no point was this clearer than in his outing Friday night in San Francisco. For any successful big-league pitcher, prosperity originates from having a steady, repeatable process that doesn't change much from game to game. Yes, the strategy for attacking a specific offense or an individual batter may change, but the routine, delivery, and execution do not. What's made Assad such an attractive option for Craig Counsell as he navigates the club's pitching plight is his righty's nasty, increasingly unhittable off-speed pitches. To date, Assad has logged 38 1/3 innings on the mound in the majors, with a critical 6 1/3 of them coming in their tilt with the Giants at the start of the weekend. Before fans in the ballpark could even settle into their seats with Ghirardelli sundaes in hand, Assad treated the many Chicago enthusiasts in attendance to something just as sweet as the ice cream in those bowls. For his second straight start, Assad clocked at least six innings with no runs allowed, halting a string of games in which the Cubs' pitching made mediocre lineups look much more threatening. His arsenal focuses primarily on breaking stuff, with six of his seven pitch types leaning toward movement rather than velocity, but his sinker is his nastiest and most confident weapon. Per Baseball Savant, Assad deploys his sinker 40.5% of the time, with his cut fastball sitting in a distant second at 16.3%. What makes these and his other pitches so effective is what he allows batters to do with them, which (lately) isn't much. Assad cruised through quick, mostly harmless innings because opponents aren't getting a good piece of the bat on the ball. Though his barrels are slightly up from last season, Assad has been forcing batters to top the ball at a staggering rate. He's getting batters to hit the top of the ball at a 33.6% clip, resulting in weak grounders or otherwise painless outcomes for the defense. The nature of these pitches puts less stress on him, creating more low-leverage situations per inning and allowing him to stay within his game plan. The squad's best-laid plans haven't materialized for over a month at this point, but with Assad toeing the rubber, the offense is resurfacing in at least a facsimile of its expected imposing form. Cashing in on early run-scoring opportunities changes the entire complexion of a contest, and with heartening production from the likes of Michael Busch, Assad had an easier time getting his feet under him, with knowledge that his squad's offense was ready to do their part. Punching in good work while punching out the opposition has the murmurs of this club's resurgence growing just a little louder. While it's far too early to call Chicago's few encouraging contests last week a trend, it has at least provided convincing evidence that the version of this team we thought was lost without a trace still exists. Assad, who got this latest start because Matthew Boyd still isn't ready (and might not be for a while) will be key to their efforts to be that club for the foreseeable future. View full article

Image courtesy of © Robert Edwards-Imagn Images Over the course of a 162-game season, all 30 MLB teams find themselves tasked with overcoming various levels of adversity. What the Chicago Cubs have been mired in since the end of the first week of May is far more sinister: it's become a complex. By failing to produce in nearly every facet of the game, the Cubs have become their own worst enemies. Despite encouraging signs of life, that hard truth was further reinforced in another underwhelming week of baseball. The Cubs' arrival in the Mile High City was the continuation of a much lighter part of the club's schedule. A three-game set with the Rockies was a chance for the team to dig in, shed some of their worst habits, and notch a comfortable win or two. Such was not the case in the opener. Beleaguered starter Colin Rea did little to quell concerns about his viability as a starter. He surrendered seven earned runs in 4 2/3 innings of work. His offense didn't fare much better, stranding eight baserunners in an eight-hit performance wherein Michael Busch deposited a souvenir into the seats of Coors Field. The Rockies prevailed by 7-3. Not long ago, a start from Shota Imanaga was met with great exuberance. His outing in a losing effort in Game 2 of the series in Denver was actually not far off from the brand of pitching that delivered him to a place of prominence in the big leagues to begin with. The Pitching Philosopher logged five innings of scoreless baseball. Yet again, the game's frustrations belong at the feet of this inconsistent lineup, which only scratched across two runs, one of which came in the form of a game-tying solo shot from Ian Happ. Along with Pete Crow-Armstrong, Happ's frequent heroics have gone a long way in carrying the team on his back, but it's not clear the encumbered team-haulers are getting anywhere. Chicago dropped the middle game and the series by a score of 3-2. When this club's offense clicks, good things happen. Well, it clicked in Thursdsy's getaway game, with the visitors exploding for a 10-hit, 9-run performance. A fourth-inning grand slam from the ascending Seiya Suzuki seized the momentum from the home team and offered catharsis to a visiting dugout that had been waiting and pressing to break through. Despite coughing up two long balls, Edward Cabrera held steady in a 5 1/3-inning outing. While this starting rotation continues its search for stability, it needs Cabrera to find the groove that made him an attractive target in trade. The Cubs rolled to a 9-3 victory to escape Coors Field with some pride and hope. The squad's westward trek landed them in San Francisco for a three-game weekend series with Willy Adames and the Giants. For the first time since mid-May, the Cubs notched a victory in a series's opening tilt, with their 5-1 triumph over the Giants at Oracle. Spot starter Javier Assad stepped up impressively. His scoreless six-inning performance paved the way for this offense, led by a three-run blast into McCovey Cove from Busch. The bullpen enjoyed one of its quieter outings in some time, with the only trouble being a solo shot surrendered by Trent Thornton to Bryce Eldridge in the home half of the ninth. Ben Brown's breakout season remains one of the shining beacons of hope for this Cubs organization in 2026. His series-clinching showing in the middle game of this tilt proved only to reinforce this point. Though his five-inning, seven-hit performance wasn't his sharpest, he still only allowed one run to score, backed up by a superb defense on Saturday night in the Bay Area. Pete Crow-Armstrong led the offensive campaign for his club, launching a first-pitch, opposite-field homer to give his club an early lead. The All-Star center fielder came just a triple away from the cycle. He's not only back to his best form, but showing signs that he might be even better than anything he's shown in the past. If the rest of the team can follow suit, they might just be back in business. Slightly eroding all the goodwill from its first series win in ages, Rea and the Cubs faltered on a lazy Sunday in San Francisco. The opener, Ryan Rolison, gave way to Rea, and he was as perplexing as ever. A disastrous, marathon fifth inning dug a hole the offense could not fight its way out of. More stranded runners and empty at-bats kept the North Siders from a much-desired sweep in the series finale. The Cubs now return to the Friendly Confines for a six-game homestand. First up, they welcome the Rockies to town for a three-game tilt. Their rematch with the Rockies will set the stage for a three-game weekend series opposite Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays. While it's difficult to see the forest through the trees with this frustrating ball club, by earning its first series win in over a month this week, the team showed it has plenty to play for, and plenty of resilience to make the play worthwhile. View full article

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Lately, the Cubs can't seem to get out of their own way. Poor execution at the plate and on the mound doomed this club, in a week that saw the schedule lighten up with sub-.500 clubs visiting Wrigley Field. With the squad slipping further away from its goals, the frustrations bubbled over—not into some cathartic fight, but into a hissing cauldron of disappointment. Another losing week of baseball changed the question from when this club will come around to whether it will. The week commenced wth the Cubs playing host to the Athletics. Jameson Taillon is a loose brick in the starting rotation, already standing on a shaky foundation. His penchant for surrendering home runs early and often manifested in this contest, coughing up a solo shot to Nick Kurtz. From there, the veteran did manage 6 1/3 innings, but that was not sufficient for Chicago's laboring offense, which scratched just one run across the plate on an RBI groundout off the bat of Alex Bregman. Lacking a clutch gene, the squad went 1-for-7 with RISP in a 2-1 loss in the series opener. For the Cubs to seriously get back into the division race, they'll need balanced play on both sides of the ball, and that did not come in the middle tilt of their series with the A's. Caleb Thielbar blew a slim, late lead for the home team, giving the Athletics renewed hope. They would use extra innings to cash in on that hope, handing the North Siders an unexpected and demoralizing series loss. The A's won by a final score of 5-4 in 10. In the third contest against the team from Somewhere in the West, Chicago battled back from a deflating outing from Shota Imanaga to seize a cathartic 7-6 victory. It wasn't just the dramatic, walk-off nature of the triumph, but the fashion in which they did it that made it feel promising and special. While the rest of his teammates falter, the scorching-hot Pete Crow-Armstrong has put the club on his back in a way that has catapulted him back into the All-Star conversation. His walk-off single in the 10th inning elicited child-like glee from not only those in attendance, but Marquee Network's own Cliff Floyd, who exclaimed, "I needed this." With emotions running high and the iconic Bleacher Bums in their brand-new replica jerseys, Chicago killed the buzz on Friday. A brutal 18-3 rout at the hands of the comically mediocre San Francisco Giants dispelled any hope of carrying momentum from game to game. The contest was Edward Cabrera's first start, returning from a brief stint on the IL due to a blister on his throwing hand. The squad's hard-throwing youngster got pelted, surrendering eight earned runs. As has often been the case, the bullpen provided no answers, with lackluster appearances from all who took the mound, including junk time work from position player Carson Kelly. It's ghastly to imagine where the team would be without Crow-Armstrong Over the past week, the Gold Glove center fielder is batting .517 with 8 RBIs and a 1.632 OPS. With the Cubs down to their final out Saturday, Crow-Armstrong drilled his second long fly of the game, an absolute no-doubter to right field. Crow-Armstrong's heroics allowed his club to secure a dramatic win on another strong day for breakout starting pitcher Ben Brown. The final 3-2 in 10 innings. Taking the national stage for the second straight week on Sunday Night Baseball, Chicago seized a gut-wrenching defeat from the jaws of victory. After exiting the game with a strained hamstring, Taillon was replaced by the recently called-up Javier Assad. Cruising through the Giants' lineup like a Ferrari on Lakeshore Drive, Assad was magnificent in 6 1/3 relief innings. It appeared as though the young pitcher's heroics were meant to be rewarded, as his club repeatedly found itself in promising run-scoring scenarios, ultimately squandering all of them. The 2-1 loss in 10 innings was one of the team's most crushing in an endless sea of crushing losses. So now, with more tilts opposite clubs far less formidable than what lies further down the road, the Cubs hope to take back their narrative. A travel day Monday lands the Cubs in Denver for a three-game set with the Rockies, before jetting out to the Bay Area to face this very same Giants squad. This Cubs team, even with its persistent shortcomings, continues to flash glimpses of the blueprints for a return to sustained success. But the project still suffers agonizing delays, and it might prove too costly or too poorly organized to be completed under this leadership group. View full article

Image courtesy of © Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Since securing their last series win against the Reds on May 6, the Cubs are 7-15. They're standing naked in the cold spotlight right now, and some of those laughing in the dark are their fiercest rivals. With a demoralizing combination of stranded baserunners and inconsistent pitching, the city's North Side baseball team has lived a nightmare for the last three weeks. A late recharge of this squad's bats and some masterful pitching performances from unexpected places proved that it's far from over. The renewal of a division rivalry feels more important than a tilt featuring more unfamiliar opponents. With the North Siders kicking off a four-game set in Pittsburgh on the Memorial Day holiday, this sentiment was clearly on the minds of players in both dugouts. The suddenly marvelous Ben Brown took the bump. He went six full innings, surrendering just four hits and one earned run, and punching out seven Pirates. The club's inept offense doomed them once again, however, as they were flummoxed by Pittsburgh starter Carmen Mlodzinski. Chicago mustered its only run, a solo shot off the bat of Michael Busch, against the Buccos starter, but that's where it ended, leaving seven stranded in a 2-1 victory for the Pirates. The loss of Cade Horton near the outset of this campaign set into motion the world's worst game of musical chairs. Craig Counsell and his staff have looked in every corner of this clubhouse for answers, from Javier Assad to Tuesday's starter, Jordan Wicks. Alas: nothing has panned out for the North Siders. In his first start of the season, Wicks was roughed up, surrendering eight earned runs on nine hits. Racking up eight hits and just one run, the offense went an astonishing 1-for-13 with RISP. This is a team that's had a hard time getting out of its own way, and this contest was no different, with the Pirates winning 12-1. It's no secret that Pittsburgh native Ian Happ loves to work at PNC Park. With a five-RBI day, Happ powered his squad to their first convincing victory in weeks Wednesday, in a 10-4 triumph. One element of this slide that has doomed the Cubs is inconsistent pitching, but despite Jameson Taillon giving up another pair of home runs, the staff largely kept their opponents in check. The bullpen had one of its best showings of late, with solid appearances from Ethan Roberts, Jacob Webb, Phil Maton, and Caleb Thielbar. The tilt served as a reminder that this Chicago team has much to play for. With the offense finally clicking, the Cubs salvaged a split on Thursday. Michael Busch, Alex Bregman, and Happ all recorded critical hits, with the squad's left fielder crushing another long fly. Colin Rea delivered a steady showing, coughing up just two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings of work. In the smallest of sample sizes, the Cubs put forth their most encouraging two games of offense, restoring some of the good habits and better vibes that have been so sorely missing from this ball club. The final score was 7-2. A lack of synchronization between the team's offense and defense dragged them to the depths of the NL Central cellar for a moment in the past week. A 6-5 loss in the opener of their three-game set with the archrival Cardinals supplied a convincing demonstration of this case. Happ homered in his third-straight game, but a dismal appearance from Shota Imanaga put the North Siders behind early. Though he's not the only starter who struggles with the long ball, Imanaga allowed the Cards to swat three long flies. The 6-5 win for the home team ended Chicago's win streak at two. Ben Brown is, by default, the momentary ace of this staff, and his virtuoso performance in game two of the series evened things. Brown was as confident as he was efficient, cruising through the early innings with his balanced arsenal. He frustrated the Cardinals lineup with a wicked curveball and his two-seam fastball. Pete Crow-Armstrong put his stamp on the game with his best performance of the year: a four-hit game, placing the tarps back on to a raucous Saint Louis crowd with a 444-foot moonshot, his seventh on the year. The sparkling night at the plate helped the Cubbies to a 6-1 win. In front of a sold-out Sunday Night Baseball crowd, the North Siders squandered their shot at the second series win of the month. Wicks followed up his previous pedestrian outing with a shorter but not better one. He couldn't find much of a groove, yielding four hits and three earned runs. As he went, so went the club's worst offensive tendencies, with a solo homer from Alex Bregman providing the only offense in the rubber match. The North Siders' pitching woes have been known for some time, but if they wish to really gain ground in this division, it's a problem they must solve, and fast. Chicago fell 5-1 at Busch Stadium. The calendar now turns to June, with Craig Counsell's club still seeking a consistent formula for success. The squad gets a day off on Monday before returning to the Friendly Confines for a three-game set with the competent Athletics. The weekend festivities at Wrigley will see the San Francisco Giants pay a visit. While there are still a few positives to speak to regarding this baseball team, the negatives are dominating at the moment. There's time, but the Cubs had better be keeping better track of it. View full article

With a team playing as poorly as the Chicago Cubs are right now, shining a light on one individual player's poor performance is akin to blaming a single cloud for a particularly heavy rain. As the club's losses have piled up, so have its frustrations, resulting in a team eager to deliver winning baseball, but laboring mightily to manifest the reality they and countless others desire. On better days, Moisés Ballesteros is a powerful and menacing bat. His impressive stature and skill set at the plate have the potential not only to catalyze his team's offense, but also the overall success of the club. The North Siders currently own a .245 batting average. That's not astonishingly low, but given where the squad was at the end of April and during their pair of 10-game winning streaks, it's more than enough to give one pause. Ballesteros, with his Prince Fielder-like frame, was a major factor in those halcyon days. The 22-year-old set the league ablaze in April with a .338/.392/.620 line. He even ranked in the top three in baseball in total hits through the first full month of the season. The surprising, wild ride made him an early candidate for NL Rookie of the Year. From that point, as it has with so many of his colleagues sporting Cubbie blue, regression set in. Given Ballesteros's rookie status, there is a smaller sample size from which to draw compared to other top-of-the-order batters, such as Ian Happ. Occupying the designated hitter role, Ballesteros comes to the plate with a swing-first mindset. Thus, his approach is reliant on first-pitch swings, which he offers 50.4% of the time. Additionally, he's chasing balls out of the zone at a 37.6% clip. Ballesteros does his damage by putting the ball in play and getting it to either touch grass or fly out of the park. He has close to zero value as a baserunner in late-game situations, due to his lack of speed. He's currently holding a .253 BABIP, leading opposing pitchers to come after him, but not necessarily with the nastiest stuff. Ballesteros feasts on changeups and has seen far fewer of them as his struggles persist. Recently dethroned by the Milwaukee Brewers as the top team in the loaded NL Central, the North Siders' collective bats are quieter than an audience watching a performance of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Several trackable aspects are certainly leading to their shortcomings, though even to the casual observer, the team is pressing—pushing too hard to deliver "the hit" that snaps them out of this funk. Neither Ballesteros nor anyone else can deliver that breakthrough moment, at least not yet. The night is darkest before the dawn, so perhaps the best is yet to come. Facing incessant criticism regarding the lineup card, Craig Counsell must be the one to insert Ballesteros back into the everyday fold. Ballesteros is increasingly omitted from his club's batting order, a move that is not likely to increase his confidence or performance at the dish. When the team was thriving, he spurred on plenty of its success. A "back to basics" reset of this lineup warrants some thought—although, where would this team be without what it's gotten from Michael Conforto so far? The best version of the Chicago Cubs can't be realized without a bopping Ballesteros. Knocked off their perch, the North Siders are now tasked with getting back in the fight. If they want to reclaim the top spot in the division, and maybe even stay there, they have to be the ones to throw the next punches. For the best outcomes, it's time for Ballesteros to step back into the ring and land a few decisive haymakers. View full article

Image courtesy of © David Banks-Imagn Images The North Siders' three biggest pillars of success in 2026 — clutch situational hitting, baserunning, and sparkling defense — all but dried up in the most frustrating week of the season. We had alluded to the fact that it doesn't get easier, but with the Cubs' warts put on full display, their ability to right the ship will determine whether or not the squad's larger aspirations are attainable. A day off this past Monday allowed the Cubbies to settle into the accommodations at Truist Park as they set to do battle for three games with the dreaded Atlanta Braves. The two clubs briefly traded places, boasting the best record in baseball. By the end of their three-game tilt, Atlanta presented as the real cream of the crop. The consistently average Colin Rea took the ball for the North Siders opposite Grant Holmes in the opener. A seesaw defensive struggle turned in the fourth inning as the home team put up a four-run tally on the Cubs, including a two-run blast off the bat of Mike Yastrzemski. Holmes and the Atlanta pitching staff silenced Chicago's bats, with a solo shot from the ascending Alex Bregman providing the only hit of the contest for the Cubs in a 5-2 loss. Squandering an absolute gem from the southpaw Shota Imanaga, a dormant offense hamstrung the Cubbies once again in the middle game of this matchup. The de facto ace of this club was as sharp as we've come to expect this season, striking out six batters and surrendering just five hits. His impressive effort set his team up nicely heading into a tied eighth inning, where, in relief of Imanaga, the beleaguered Phil Maton sank the visiting team's hopes for a series-tying victory. The little things in this game make the biggest difference, and this rang painfully true in the Cubbies' 4-1 defeat. The margins between these two clubs are slim yet pronounced. When clicking, the Cubs have one of the most fearsome offenses in all of the majors. Squaring off against a Cy Young-caliber hurler in Chris Sale, the North Siders rose to the level of their competition. Ben Brown matched Sale stride for stride in the early going. Brown threw four remarkably efficient innings, allowing only a run and striking out seven Braves. His mastery on the mound gave Ian Happ and an opportunistic offense a chance to secure their 28th win of the season in the series' finale. With that consolation prize in hand, the Cubs arrived in the neighborhood of Bridgeport for the renewal of the Crosstown Classic. While still not among baseball's elite, Will Venable's White Sox are heading in the right direction faster than an express train leaving the Sox/35th station. This truth notwithstanding, the North Siders slugged their way to a late, convincing victory in the opener. The cathartic offensive output came from batters throughout this lineup, especially Carson Kelly, who bashed his way to a 3-for-5, four-RBI day. The rally turned a nip-and-tuck, tie game into a cakewalk for the visiting team, earning them a 10-5 triumph. Starting pitcher Jameson Taillon has earned his fair share of criticism for lacking control, mental stamina, and giving up too many home runs. Those criticisms roared louder than ever on the veteran's worst start of the season. Jamo was pelted, surrendering eight earned runs and five long balls, raising his ERA to an alarming 4.97. He is a glaring liability in this rotation, putting the onus for improvement not just on the pitching staff, but the front office as well. Pete Crow-Armstrong provided a silver lining in the ninth, blasting a two-run bomb, his fifth long fly of the year in the losing effort. "Summer Time Chi" was in full swing this past weekend on the South Side. For a fleeting, tantalizing time, it looked like the North Siders would board the team bus with bragging rights in tow. But it was the fans from the part of town that gave us Grammy award-winning rapper Common, who ran back to their fantasy, a win over their hated rivals in extra innings. Knotted at four, Phil Maton coughed up a three-run blast to the Sox Tristan Peters. The homer completed the rally for the South Siders, who erased a 4-1 deficit. The thunderous bomb from Peters had all but sealed the fate of Craig Counsell's squad, until the scorching-hot Michael Conforto crushed a dramatic, game-tying home run off of SerAnthony Dominguez. The Cubs took the lead in the tenth yet failed to tack on insurance, making way for Edgar Quero's cinematic two-run walk-off blast, silencing the raucous Cubs fans in attendance. The loss marked the North Siders' third straight series loss. No reprieve will come to this struggling Cubs squad as it heads back to Wrigley for a six-game homestand. Up next, the Cubbies host Christian Yelich and the defending NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers. This upcoming weekend sees the Houston Astros paying a visit to the North Side of Chicago. No ardent supporter of this Chicago Cubs team should situate themselves too close to the panic button, but this week, with a chance to either cushion or relinquish their division lead, stands to shed light on where this club is right now. View full article