There was no escaping an angry fan base, an imploding bullpen, an embattled manager and an overall feeling of ennui surrounding a last-place team.
That’s Chicago baseball in a nutshell on the eve of the official start of summer.
So the only fair way to decide whether to attend the Chicago Cubs home game against the San Francisco Giants or the White Sox home game against the Houston Astros was to flip a coin.
Heads it was.
Since the Sox were heads, they won the coin flip, which meant a trip to Wrigley Field was in order.
I arrived at the ballpark in good time Tuesday to discover the Cubs were taking their team photo in front of the ivy and the iconic center-field scoreboard. Looked like a keeper, even if some of the players might not be here in August if the Cubs can’t escape their prolonged funk.
Unfortunately, the team flags that are raised in order of the daily standings were mysteriously absent, meaning the Cubs won’t have to look back one day and recall they were in last place at the time of the photo. Surely it was just a coincidence. There was indeed a nice, little breeze, and the Cubs probably didn’t want their flags to be damaged. Every cent counts.
Manager Craig Counsell began his press briefing by informing the media it was “hot” outside. Confirmed. Someone asked if he had ever been in the bleachers before, and Counsell said he had not. We were off and running, or at least power-walking.
Nice day for a team photo. Scoreboard flags with teams in order of standings mysteriously absent. pic.twitter.com/AF1x4xihaX
— Paul Sullivan (@PWSullivan) June 18, 2024
Eventually the topic of closer Héctor Neris came up, and whether Counsell would continue to put Neris in a closing role after the disastrous blown save Monday, which followed a disastrous blown save in Tampa Bay.
Counsell went into his stump speech about his pitching staff “getting 27 outs every day” and the order of who pitches where was not as important as actually getting them. But he then answered the question.
“Hector is going to continue to be in that role for us, for me, to manage the game to put the guys down there in the best position to succeed,” he said. “He’s had a couple rough outings. I don’t think he pitched that poorly (Monday) night, again … Yeah I think we’re absolutely going to need to see Héctor at the end of games.”
Counsell didn’t have these problems in Milwaukee where All-Stars Josh Hader and Devin Williams were closing games instead of blowing them, so managing the Cubs bullpen is probably a lot like learning a new language.
But Counsell pointed to injuries as a factor, which was a valid statement.
“That’s not an excuse, that’s just a fact,” he said. “And our depth has been challenged. We’ve got to keep trying to help the guys improve and also try to put them in the right spots to have success, and at the same time keep them rested and keep them healthy.”
Neris won’t be moved until further notice. Got it. But Counsell did give the ball to Keegan Thompson in the ninth on Tuesday and watched him strike out the side in the Cubs’ 5-2 win.
Meanwhile, Sox general manager Chris Getz was addressing the media on the South Side, where it also was quite hot. Naturally, Getz was asked if Pedro Grifol would remain as manager through 2024, after a recent report in The Athletic stated it was only a matter of time before he was gone.
“So, I know that actually there’s a lot of speculation on who is going to be in what role in future years and really it’s about showing up each day and figuring out how to put our players in the best position possible,” Getz said.
Certainly as ringing an endorsement for Grifol as we’ve heard.
Asked how he would evaluate Grifol, Getz said by the “progress of our players individually.”
Well, nice knowing you, Pedro.
Oh, wait. Getz wasn’t done. He continued, saying if a manager gets the most out of his players “you are going to be in a good position to get a lot of wins. And there’s a long list of players that are playing well.”
If that’s more than a handful, it’s quite a list. But if Getz truly believes there is a “long list of players playing well,” perhaps Grifol is safe after all.
It’s not easy being the GM of a Sox team that’s on pace to finish with 120 losses, tying the modern-day record set by the 1962 New York Mets. Nor is it easy being the manager of a Cubs team that was supposed to contend for a division title but has floundered since late April.
The Cubs have won two straight games only once since the first week of May — their two-game sweep of the Sox in the City Series.
The last time both Chicago teams finished last in their divisions was 2013, when Robin Ventura managed the Cubs and Dale Sveum was in his second and final season managing the Cubs rebuild. Sveum was replaced by Rick Renteria that fall. Ventura later hired Renteria as his bench coach and watched him become his replacement after the 2016 season.
Sox fans are resigned to the losing at this point, despite Tuesday’s 2-0 win over the Astros, and most of the few diehards who still go out to the games enjoy themselves with the food and lubricants. Cubs fans, on the other hand, booed the team off the field Monday.
It wasn’t a first, but certainly booing has become less commonplace since the 2016 team made their dreams come true. Eight years later, Cubs fans are tired of the same old, same old.
“They’re emotional, and that’s part of buying the ticket, you get that privilege,” Counsell said. “There’s no question it doesn’t feel good. But it’s been a tough stretch and you’re voicing your displeasure, and that’s OK. However we interpret it, take it the right way and use it as a positive. That’s part of our jobs here.”
Not putting the same closer who doesn’t close in the same spot might help.
Just a guess.
