Chicago baseball report: The White Sox have a youth movement while the Cubs eye the trade deadline
The Cubs return to Wrigley Field following a three-city trip where they faced three of the best starting pitchers in the majors.
They continue their stretch of 26 games in 27 days with a 10-day homestand that kicks off Thursday with four against the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates.
Manager Will Venable returns to face his previous team on Friday when the White Sox begin a three-game series against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Venable spent 2023-24 on Bruce Bochy's staff as the associate manager.
Every Thursday during the regular season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what's ahead — for the Cubs and White Sox.Seven weeks before the July 31 trade deadline, the Cubs are still in information-gathering mode.
Very few teams are fully committed to selling at this point in the season, but president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and the front office continue to check in and monitor everything. Beyond that, it'll likely be a few weeks before trade activity starts to pick up.
But when the market gets moving, expect Hoyer to be involved to improve a Cubs team that sits 14 games over .500 and currently holds a 4.5-game lead in the National League Central following Wednesday's 7-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. With how things are trending, addressing the rotation and pitching depth will be a priority for the Cubs leading up to the trade deadline. The loss of Justin Steele for the season and injuries to Shota Imanaga, Javier Assad and Jordan Wicks have tested the Cubs' depth.
Imanaga is nearing a return from his left hamstring strain. He will pitch three innings in the Arizona Complex League on Saturday, and if everything goes well, his next step would be a rehab outing at Triple A. Assad (reaggravation of oblique strain) is still not expected to be back until after the All-Star break next month. Wicks sustained a hamstring injury and recently threw live batting practice with getting back to Iowa on the horizon.
'We've definitely taken a lot of hits there, and these guys have held up well, but it's a long season,' Hoyer said Wednesday. 'We're not even halfway through yet, so we have to continue to address that in all sorts of ways, whether it's the trade deadline, small transactions, and hopefully get some of these guys healthy.'
Barring any other notable injuries, like season-altering ones on the position player side, the Cubs might also target an upgrade for the bench or a complementary piece.
'I do think, in general, that it used to be that you had some more transactions in the tank in August and September, and now you don't, so you have to think about that aspect of it,' Hoyer said. 'You have to play two months without those transactions.
'This group is a really good group. And it's not just on offense, it's on defense as well.'
Edgar Quero provided an insurance run Saturday against the Kansas City Royals with a sacrifice fly to center in the eighth inning of a 4-1 win at Rate Field.
The next day, the catcher extended a ninth-inning rally with an RBI single.
Quero came through in a DH role during Tuesday's series opener at Houston, driving in two with a two-out single in the third inning of a 4-2 victory.
Quero has been a consistent contributor at the plate since being called up from Triple-A Charlotte on April 17. He has a .262/.340/.308 with six doubles and 14 RBIs in 41 games entering Wednesday.
Before Sunday's game against the Royals, Quero told the Tribune he was 'feeling pretty good.'
'I'm working, especially behind the plate,' Quero said. 'I had a really good day (Saturday) framing. Helped the guys, that was pretty good for me.
'I work every day, trying to do adjustments. Working with (catching coach) Drew (Butera) and doing early work. Just keep working and doing what I do.'
Quero is connecting well with the pitching staff.
'He's been doing a really good job back there,' starter Adrian Houser said on Saturday.
Quero is splitting time at catcher with another rookie in Kyle Teel, who was called up from Triple A on Friday.
'He's a great guy to work with,' Teel said on Friday. 'He's really smart and he knows the pitching staff well. We talk all the time and it's just great to be back with him.'
Quero has enjoyed mixing with the younger players and the veterans.
'(I'm) having fun every day,' he said.
With Grant Taylor's arrival on Tuesday, the Sox have 10 rookies on the active roster — the most in the majors according to STATS. Pitchers Sean Burke, Shane Smith, Mike Vasil, Owen White, Brandon Eisert and Taylor, catchers Quero and Teel, and infielders Tim Elko and Chase Meidroth round out the list.
Ian Happ felt he was getting close.
The Cubs' left fielder hadn't been generating the power numbers as expected through the first 2 1/2 months of the season but believed he was getting closer as they started their three-city, nine-game trip. There were signs that had Happ feeling encouraged. Between the swings he was taking against fastballs and his plate discipline of staying in the strike zone was putting him in a good spot.
Happ homered three times in the first two games of the Cubs' series in Philadelphia and finished the road trip with five extra-base hits, featuring four long balls.
'It's nice that when you're struggling, the team's still winning, still producing,' Happ said. 'When you're not getting on base for the guys that drive it a bunch of runs, that sucks. You want to be getting on base for those guys consistently. I know that's something that's tough when you're top of the lineup and you're not on base for those guys and (Kyle Tucker) is hitting with nobody on base.'
The switch-hitting Happ hit his first home run off a lefty this season in Monday's extra-inning loss, tying the game in the eighth inning by taking Phillies reliever Matt Strahm deep.
'I feel like I've made a lot of really good right-handed swings this year,' Happ said. 'On the right side, it's been pretty consistent: walking, not striking out, and doing a really good job of hitting the ball hard. It's just been low, and so to get one in the air and see leaving that situation was great.'
Mike Tauchman doubled with one out in the third inning Tuesday against the Astros. Meidroth followed with a walk. Both later scored on a two-out single by Quero.
Tauchman and Meidroth keep finding ways to get on base at the top of the Sox lineup.
Leadoff batter Tauchman came into Wednesday with 14-for-47 (.298) with six doubles, a triple, two home runs, eight RBIs and 11 walks in his last 13 games. No. 2 hitter Meidroth is 12-for-32 (.375) with a double, home run, four RBIs and seven walks in his last nine games.
Overall this season, Tauchman entered Wednesday hitting .286 with a .414 on-base percentage in 20 games while Meidroth had a .293 average and .383 on-base percentage in 44 games.
'Just really consistent, quality at-bats where you have guys who control the zone extremely well,' Venable said before Tuesday's game, also including Miguel Vargas in that mix, 'so it's been nice to start your day as an offense with those three guys.'
'When he punched out (Kyle) Schwarber and punched out (Alec) Bohm, that's the Ryan Pressly that we're used to seeing, and I think he keeps getting better, which is fantastic.' —
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