The Cubs are finally home.
After spending the past week in Phoenix and West Sacramento, Calif., following their first two regular-season games in Tokyo against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cubs open their Wrigley Field slate Friday versus the San Diego Padres.
The Sox hit the road for the first time this season with series against the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians.
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.
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Cubs right-hander Colin Rea filling an important role.
The life of a reliever, especially one in a swing role, often goes under the radar.
The standout moments tend to be when something goes very wrong, usually resulting in the team losing. The unheralded role Rea currently fills is invaluable, though. While manager Craig Counsell expects Rea to start games for the Cubs over the course of the season, the decision to make right-hander Ben Brown the fifth starter and everyone else healthy in the rotation has forced Rea in the bullpen in a long-relief role.
In Monday’s 18-3 blowout win over the A’s, that meant saving the bullpen by pitching the final three innings to earn the save. Counsell commended Rea’s performance and how he stepped up. Rea, who was pitching on back-to-back days for the first time in his career, scattered four hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out one in his three shutout innings.
Rea credited pitching coach Tommy Hottovy and the staff for creating a schedule that helps pitchers find the right balance to stay ready.
“They do a good job here of getting us off the mound, not taking too many days in between, like, when we go out for practice, if you haven’t thrown off the mound in a couple days making sure you get 10 to 12 pitches off the mound because that’s what it comes down to for a lot of guys, just that timing off the slope and making sure that your pitch is feeling good out of your hand,” Rea told the Tribune. “Really having the discipline in those practice sessions to really hone in and get your work in and try and be efficient with it because you don’t want to throw too much before the game because you might be up in the game that day.”
Over his career, Rea has learned he needs to throw off a mound a little more frequently than some pitchers, citing how his timing feels different on a slope versus flat ground and wanting to avoid developing bad habits timing-wise with the latter.
“For me, if I can control my intensity, getting off the slope is the best case,” Rea said. “You’ve got to learn to throttle back and not overthink.”
The Sox joined rare company with the starters’ scoreless streak.
The stretch started March 27 with six shutout innings from Sean Burke on opening day against the Los Angeles Angels.
Jonathan Cannon followed with five scoreless Saturday.
Davis Martin allowed two runs, but they were both unearned, in six innings Sunday.
Martín Pérez began the series against the Minnesota Twins on Monday with six no-hit innings.
Sox starters did not allow an earned run in the first four games of the season, joining the 2019 Toronto Blue Jays, the 2013 San Francisco Giants and the 1976 Milwaukee Brewers as the only teams since 1913 to accomplish that feat — according to STATS.
“It’s really fun to watch,” Cannon told the Tribune on Tuesday at Rate Field. “We’re all each other’s biggest fans. We all love sitting in the dugout and watching each other shove. It’s been really fun and we’re all kind of doing it together, and in a way just trying to outdo each other a little bit.
“It’s fun when you kind of keep it light like that and keep it fun and everyone’s rooting for each other. It’s a great environment.”
The Sox streak ended at 28 innings Tuesday when starter Shane Smith was charged with two runs in the sixth inning. It’s the fourth-longest such stretch in the MLB expansion era (since 1961). The 1963 St. Louis Cardinals hold the mark at 32 innings.
One time through the rotation, manager Will Venable said the starters’ ability to attack the zone and make adjustments has stood out.
“Each of them have had some traffic to work through and they’ve done a really good job,” Venable said Wednesday. “The performances speak for itself. They haven’t given up a lot of those runs. That’s what’s going to be challenging is in those moments to be able to work through it and trust their stuff. And they’ve done a nice job of that.”
Number of the week: 5
The Sox entered Wednesday having spent five days in first place in the AL Central. They were in first for one day combined in 2023-24.
Week ahead: Cubs
- Thursday: off
- Friday: vs. Padres, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Saturday: vs. Padres, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Sunday: vs. Padres, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Monday: vs. Rangers, 6:40 p.m., Marquee
- Tuesday: vs. Rangers, 6:40 p.m., Marquee
- Wednesday: vs. Rangers, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
Cubs closer Ryan Pressly looked more like the version Tuesday night that the team expects to see in high-leverage spots.
Pressly tossed a scoreless ninth inning in the 7-4 win, the lone baserunner reaching on a hit that beat the Cubs’ defensive shift. It was an encouraging outing for Pressly, who had allowed 10 of 17 batters to reach base entering Tuesday’s game.
“I felt really good, just trying to attack hitters as best we can, let your defense work behind you,” Pressly said. “It was a great turn by (Dansby Swanson) and it was just nice to see everything kind of click like that instead of the last outing, which was kind of a headache.”
Pressly said his mechanics against the A’s felt the best they had this season, something Counsell anticipated would happen the more the veteran pitches.
“You always try to stay locked in and mechanically you try to stay locked in, but sometimes you go on four or five days without throwing, so you’ve got to get on the mound at some point,” Pressly said. “And we usually touch the mound once or twice every couple days. So I get off there quite a bit, and just cleaning it up every time you get up there, you try to work on something.”
Week ahead: White Sox
- Thursday: off
- Friday: at Tigers, 12:10 p.m., CHSN
- Saturday: at Tigers, 12:10 p.m., CHSN
- Sunday: at Tigers, 12:40 p.m., CHSN
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: at Guardians, 3:10 p.m., CHSN
- Wednesday: at Guardians, 5:10 p.m., CHSN
Brooks Baldwin has appeared at second, third, shortstop and right field this season.
“It’s been impressive,” Venable said. “When you talk to him, he’s just very even-keeled. That’s a really good personality trait that fits what we’re asking him to do. He’s not going to get too high, not going to get too low, he’s not going to overthink where we’re putting him. He just wants to go out and play.”
Baldwin, 24, checked another item off his list when he earned a spot on the opening-day roster for the first time after spending time with the club in the second half last season.
“That’s another thing you dream of growing up as a kid is being able to be here on an opening day,” Baldwin said last week.
He has made the most of the opportunity, going 5-for-14 (.357) with a home run and three RBIs in five games.
“He’s been great, very aggressive, which is his style,” Venable said of Baldwin’s at-bats. “There’s been times where he’s needed to adjust his path depending on fastball types, where you’ve seen him get on top of some four-seam fastballs and get under some two-seamers. Really happy with Brooks and what he’s been able to do at the plate.”
What we’re reading this morning
- With Seiya Suzuki and Kyle Tucker locked in, the Cubs roll to a sweep of the A’s with a 10-2 rout
- White Sox lose series finale to the Twins 6-1 after a 3-hour, 20-minute rain delay
- What’s the forecast for the Cubs home opener — and how has weather affected debuts since 1989?
- Wrigley Field debuts menu with jibaritos, baseball doughnuts and fried ranch bombs
- Cubs’ Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner are using torpedo bats — and seeing results
- Column: CHI BASE OPS group text is feeling ‘Giddey’ over the start of a new baseball season
- Carson Kelly becomes the 1st Chicago Cubs player to hit for cycle since Mark Grace in 1993
- Martín Pérez continues White Sox’s strong pitching to open season with 6 no-hit innings in 9-0 win
- Cubs help Athletics open their new-to-them ballpark in West Sacramento: ‘It’s a new baseball experience’
- ‘That chapter is just all love’: Tim Anderson reflects on time with White Sox in return to Rate Field
Quotable
“We’re looking forward to going back Chicago. We’re looking forward to playing at Wrigley on Friday. That’s going to be awesome. The schedule tells you where your next game is and so we try to take it like that.” — Counsell on the Cubs finally returning home after starting the regular season in Japan and then on the road for a week.
