As troublesome as this season has been for the Chicago White Sox and Cubs, a glimmer of hope exists as we close to the halfway level.
Sox starters had compiled a major-league-best 2.59 ERA in June getting into Sunday, whereas Cubs starters had the second-best National League ERA at 3.92.
And as a result of each groups play in substandard divisions, the groups with one of the best beginning pitching determine to have a leg up on their divisional foes.
Can they stick with it?
That’s the query that shall be answered within the coming weeks earlier than the Aug. 1 commerce deadline, when Sox common supervisor Rick Hahn and Cubs President Jed Hoyer may have huge selections to make on their groups’ futures.
Every Monday all through the season, Tribune baseball writers will present an replace on what occurred — and what’s forward — for the Cubs and Sox.
Christopher Morel discovering ‘his stride’
This month marks the twenty fifth anniversary of one of the vital spectacular hitting shows in major-league historical past, when Cubs proper fielder Sammy Sosa hit 20 dwelling runs in June 1998 with an .842 slugging share and 1.173 OPS in 27 video games.
Christopher Morel is not any Sosa, however his energy show since returning to the Cubs final month has conjured flashbacks to “Slammin’ Sammy.” Morel grow to be the primary first Cub since Sosa in 2002 to hit 12 dwelling runs in his first 30 video games of a season — and he added one other in his thirty first recreation Sunday.
After supervisor David Ross sat Morel in the course of the three-game sequence in Anaheim, he responded by going 11-for-25 with three dwelling runs, 11 RBIs, a .920 slugging share and a 1.364 OPS in his final seven video games earlier than Sunday.
Ross mentioned Morel wanted “perspective” after a short droop to work on points “without the pressure to perform” in video games.
“It’s probably healthy for everybody going through struggles,” Ross mentioned. “Christopher comes every day with a positive attitude. He’s probably got some of the most power I’ve seen in my career. The guy can really lean on some baseballs. He’s found his stride and the plate discipline. The calmness of the at-bats seems to be real and has been a real factor since that moment (in Anaheim).”
Morel struck out at the very least as soon as in every of his first 20 video games this season. After the pause in Anaheim, he managed to go strikeout-free in six of his subsequent eight video games.
“We’ve all been able to see what he’s capable of doing,” shortstop Dansby Swanson mentioned. “Mo has been such a big part of this team. … It’s always nice whenever you have young guys that can contribute and contribute in a big way.”
White Sox aiming for fewer floor balls
Issues with chasing are well-documented for the Sox and have been on show Thursday after they struck out 16 instances throughout a 5-4 loss in additional innings to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Sox are targeted on making contact and getting the ball within the air.
Their floor ball share, which based on fangraphs.com is the proportion of a batter’s balls in play which can be floor balls, was the very best within the majors at 46.4% going into Sunday.
“It’s a little bit of approach, it’s pitch selection, it’s just getting good pitches to hit that you can do that with,” supervisor Pedro Grifol mentioned Wednesday. “We simply must proceed to enhance, get the ball within the air.
“The reason I say that is because we have a team that has power and we’re hitting the ball on the ground. We’re not putting up crooked numbers. When you hit the ball on the ground, you need three hits to score. But (if) we can elevate some of these balls, we’re putting the ball in the seats. That’s what I’m looking for us to do.”
The Sox had a fly ball share — the proportion of a batter’s balls in play which can be fly balls — of 34.9% getting into Sunday. That ranked twenty sixth within the majors.
“Every hitter across the board knows that driving the ball in the gaps is how you create damage and create runs,” first baseman Andrew Vaughn mentioned.
The Sox have proven some energy as of late. They had three dwelling runs in Wednesday’s 8-4 victory in opposition to the Dodgers and 4 solo homers in Thursday’s loss. They hit two within the sequence opener Friday in Seattle and yet one more Sunday.
Entering Sunday, the Sox have been seventeenth within the majors with 80 dwelling runs..
Number of the week: 1
According to STATS Research, Zach Remillard turned the primary participant within the fashionable period (since 1901) to report each a game-tying hit and a go-ahead hit within the ninth inning or later in his MLB debut. Remillard tied Saturday’s recreation with a ninth-inning single and drove within the go-ahead run within the eleventh for a 4-3 win in opposition to the Mariners.
Week forward: Cubs
The Cubs have been ready for this week since 2019, when Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant have been featured in an MLB tweet selling the London Series video games in opposition to the St. Louis Cardinals scheduled for 2020. Rizzo and Bryant have been photoshopped as Paul McCartney and George Harrison on the enduring “Abbey Road” cowl, selling the video games a 12 months earlier than they have been to happen.
That was earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic put an abrupt halt to the 2020 season, and the London video games have been placed on maintain as properly. The sequence was rescheduled for Saturday and Sunday in London. Rizzo and Bryant are lengthy gone, having been dealt in the course of the 2021 sell-off, so Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner will take their place as would-be Beatles. (Former Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, who had the John Lennon spot within the photograph, retired after final season).
But first issues issues first. The Cubs play an essential three-game sequence in Pittsburgh earlier than flying throughout the pond Wednesday evening. They swept the Pirates final week at Wrigley Field to vault again into the NL Central race, and so they have Drew Smyly, Marcus Stroman and Kyle Hendricks beginning within the rematch.
- Monday: at Pirates, 6:05 p.m., Marquee
- Tuesday: at Pirates, 6:05 p.m., Marquee
- Wednesday: at Pirates, 11:35 a.m., Marquee
- Thursday: off
- Friday: off
- Saturday: vs. Cardinals in London, 12:10 p.m., Fox-32
- Sunday: vs. Cardinals in London, 9:10 a.m., ESPN
Week forward: White Sox
Clint Frazier had one thought throughout an epic at-bat in opposition to Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia within the eighth inning of a tie recreation Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.
“I kept telling myself, ‘Come on. You’ve got to do this right here,’” Frazier informed the Tribune.
Frazier rapidly was down 0-2 within the rely. He fouled off a pitch, took a ball, fouled off one other and took one other ball to even the rely. Two extra foul balls adopted.
On the ninth pitch, he drove within the go-ahead run with a single. The Sox pulled away for an 8-4 win.
“I had to do one of two things: get a hit or move him over somehow,” Frazier mentioned. “The Dodgers are nasty. I knew it was going to be a grind. As the at-bat progressed, I felt the advantage was given to me because I was the one fouling off every pitch he had thrown, I had a pretty good feel for how that pitch felt coming in. Finally I got it. I was just trying to stay aggressive and help the game be in our favor.”
Frazier has a .217/.321/.261 slash line with two RBIs, seven walks, six runs and three stolen bases in 21 video games since becoming a member of the Sox from Triple-A Charlotte. A seven-year MLB veteran, Frazier started the season within the Texas Rangers system earlier than being launched and signing a minor-league cope with the Sox in late April.
The Sox start a six-game homestand Monday with the primary of three in opposition to the Rangers.
- Monday: vs. Rangers, 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Tuesday: vs. Rangers, 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Wednesday: vs. Rangers, 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Thursday: off
- Friday: vs. Red Sox, 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Saturday: vs. Red Sox, 3:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Sunday: vs. Red Sox, 1:10 p.m., NBCSCH
What we’re studying this morning
This week in Chicago baseball
June 20, 1973: White Sox’s Cy Acosta turns into the primary American League pitcher to bat for the reason that designated hitter rule went into impact
Acosta struck out within the eighth inning and received the win within the Sox’s 8-3 win over the California Angels.
June 20, 2007: Sammy Sosa hits his 600th dwelling run, making him the fifth participant to achieve the milestone
Sosa, taking part in for the Texas Rangers after a 12 months out of baseball, hit a solo homer off Jason Marquis. The opposite-field shot got here within the fifth inning in opposition to the Cubs, the staff he performed for from 1992-2004.
Employing his acquainted dwelling run hop and carrying an enormous smile as he rounded the bases with the theme from “The Natural” blasting over the sound system, Sosa achieved one thing solely Henry Aaron, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays had performed earlier than him.
When he hit No. 500 with the Cubs on April 4, 2003, in Cincinnati, Sosa had little curiosity in attempting to steer the fortunate fan who caught it to provide it again.
“Let him sell it,” Sosa mentioned. “God bless America.”
But together with his newest feat, Sosa deposited No. 600 into the Rangers bullpen, the place reliever Akinori Otsuka retrieved it.
June 21, 1989: White Sox’s Carlton Fisk units an American League report for homers by a catcher
“Here’s to Yogi for setting the standard,” mentioned the 41-year-old Fisk, elevating a glass of flat champagne after passing the Yankees’ Yogi Berra with 307 dwelling runs.
Fisk, a local New Englander, couldn’t have picked a greater venue than Yankee Stadium to launch his historic rocket, until it was Fenway Park, the place Fisk began his profession 18 years earlier.
“Coincidental more than anything,” Fisk mentioned. “I got the ball back. That was nice.”
The evening — a 7-3 White Sox win — wasn’t all good. In the third inning, Fisk was hit within the groin with a pitch by starter Greg Hibbard.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it,” Fisk mentioned. “Yogi’d appreciate that part of the game.”
June 23, 1984: Cubs’ Ryne Sandberg has ‘The Sandberg Game’
Sandberg hit two late-inning dwelling runs off Cardinals reliever Bruce Sutter to tie the sport twice because the Cubs went on to win 12-11 in 11 innings. Sandberg led off the ninth with a solo dwelling run to tie the sport 9-9, then hit a two-run, two-out homer within the tenth to tie the sport 11-11.
The recreation was televised nationally for NBC’s “Game of the Week” with Bob Costas and Tony Kubek on the decision.
Costas recalled the sport on its thirtieth anniversary to the Tribune.
“The ‘Game of the Week’ meant something different 30 years ago than it does now,” he mentioned. “You can get baseball now in every single place. You can virtually get it in your wristwatch. But the ‘Game of the Week’ then actually was the sport of the week. If you lived in a city that didn’t have a big-league staff, these three hours each Saturday have been your major-league baseball repair. You didn’t mow the garden then.
“Now you’ve received Cardinals in opposition to Cubs, which is all the time nice. And the Cubs mount this comeback. They’re down 9-3. They get to inside 9-8. Bruce Sutter, who’s near invincible, is trying to shut the sport for the Cardinals. And Sandberg homers into the left-center-field bleachers; we go to additional innings.
“Willie McGee, who hit for the cycle that day — misplaced within the shuffle, form of a footnote — knocks in two within the prime of the tenth and it’s 11-9. Two outs and no one on, (Bobby) Dernier works a full-count stroll. Up comes Sandberg once more. Homers off Sutter once more … and that is again in a day when a better may work three or 4 innings in a sure scenario. So Sutter continues to be in.
“(Sandberg) homers once more and it’s virtually precisely to the identical spot. It’s virtually as if the identical fan might have caught each dwelling run balls. And then ultimately, speak about a footnote, Dave Owen — Spike Owen’s brother — singles over a drawn-in infield within the eleventh and the Cubs win the sport 12-11.
“And it was that game that really put Sandberg on the map and marked him as an MVP candidate, and in fact he did win the MVP and the Cubs did win the division.”
In 2023 it was introduced Sandberg would be the fifth Cubs participant with a statue outdoors Wrigley, becoming a member of Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins. The tributes to the Cubs icons at the moment are a part of the redesigned “Statue Row” in Gallagher Way.
Quotable
“Anybody and everybody would say we’d rather have won a ton more games than where we’re at right now, but we’d all agree we like what we’ve been seeing the last week. I feel like we’ve been a lot more aggressive and playing our style of baseball.” — Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson
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Source: www.bostonherald.com