Manager Pedro Grifol returns home this weekend when the Chicago White Sox visit the Miami Marlins.
“I’m looking forward to going back home, seeing a lot of people there,” Grifol said Thursday. “I grew up three blocks from the stadium. My grandmother’s business was a mile and a half down the road. The (Baltimore) Orioles trained a couple miles from the stadium, spring training. It’s nice to go back there and manage a few games.”
The Cubs will welcome the Los Angeles Angels to Wrigley Field after preventing their first sweep this year in a series of at least three games by winning Thursday’s finale against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Cubs remain one of four teams to avoid that outcome, with the other three — the Phillies, Cleveland Guardians and Seattle Mariners — all sitting in first place in their divisions.
Every Friday during the regular season, Tribune baseball writers provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Cubs and White Sox. Want more? Sign up for our new newsletters.
Cubs feel the impact of Adbert Alzolay’s absence
Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy feels a little bit like a rehab coordinator at the moment.
Nine pitchers are on the injured list, and while most are on track to return in the next two to three weeks, right-hander Adbert Alzolay’s journey continues as he rehabs a right flexor strain that has kept him out since May 13. Alzolay is at the team’s complex in Mesa, Ariz., throwing bullpen sessions and, reassuringly, recovering well afterward.
The recovery element is most important to Hottovy. Alzolay’s stuff has looked really good, too, in his bullpens, and Hottovy doesn’t expect him to take that long to come off the IL once he starts getting into rehab games in a few weeks.
“Because once he’s in games, he’s fully healthy and he’s confident and ready to go,” Hottovy explained.
Despite Alzolay’s struggles leading up to his forearm injury, his extended absence has had a significant impact on the Cubs bullpen and how they can best deploy their relievers.
“We always talked about you don’t really realize your value until it’s gone,” Hottovy said, “and I think with Adbert when he struggled a little bit early, you realize how valuable he was in that position. And then when you lose him entirely, you really realize how valuable he is. Anytime you lose a pitcher of his caliber for an extended period of time, you’re going to feel that void.
“You obviously want him available for your team. He’s such a hard worker, not only the guy he is on the mound and what he is as a pitcher, but the teammate, the person.”
With Alzolay, Julian Merryweather, Mark Leiter Jr. and Yency Almonte sidelined, the Cubs are getting younger arms more experience.
“Some of the guys like Luke Little and Porter Hodge are really taking the next step in my mind, getting some higher-level situations, not only succeeding but doing it consistently,” Hottovy said. “And it’s fun to watch those guys compete and that’s what we need to see right now when you have guys go down. Who’s going to step up? And it’s been nice to see some of these young internal guys do that.”
Michael Soroka pitching well in relief role for White Sox
Michael Soroka couldn’t recall the last time he was involved in a marathon game like Sunday’s 14-inning affair against the Colorado Rockies.
“I was thinking about that when I was out there,” Soroka told the Tribune earlier this week in Cleveland. “Since the new (extra-inning) rules (with a runner starting at second), I can’t remember one like that.”
Soroka struck out six while allowing two unearned runs on one hit in the final four innings of the Sox’s 5-4 loss.
“I wish the result would have been a little different, but did my best to give the team a chance,” he said. “I had the chance to lay it out there, made some good pitches and gave the boys a chance.”
The right-hander has pitched well after the Sox shifted him to the bullpen. He has a 2.96 ERA, .188 opponents average and 41 strikeouts in 10 relief outings. He was 0-5 with a 6.39 ERA in nine starts.
“Go out there with a chip on my shoulder and realized that I was a lot better than I showed as a starter earlier this year,” Soroka said. “I think I’ve found some good things. Just the feeling of throwing the baseball again. I got a little bit lost and wasn’t that great as a starter, but I still believe that’s where I’m at my best and where I possess the most value.
“Just a matter of going out there and letting them know that this isn’t just because it’s a one-inning stint. I can do this for multiple innings.”
He ranks third among major-league relievers with 15.16 strikeouts per nine innings.
“Him not overthinking it and just coming at you and trusting his stuff, it’s probably put him in a nice position to have the success that he’s had,” Grifol said. “And he’s striking guys out at a high rate. Sometimes minimizing your stuff and not overthinking it might put you in a good spot.”
Number of the week: 141
Sox starter Garrett Crochet has 141 strikeouts, the fourth-highest total in club history before the All-Star break. He trails Chris Sale in 2015 (157), Dylan Cease in 2022 (150) and Wilbur Wood in 1973 (142). Crochet was named AL Pitcher of the Month for June on Wednesday.
Tracking the White Sox’s road to 100 losses
Record: 25-64
The Sox, who lost two of three against the Cleveland Guardians, have the worst record after 89 games in franchise history. The previous mark of 28-61 was set in 1948. They’re on pace for 116 losses, four short of the record set by the expansion 1962 New York Mets.
After Tuesday’s 7-6 loss at Progressive Field, the Sox are 0-14 in series openers on the road. They last won the first game of a road series Sept. 18, 2023, at Washington.
Week ahead: Cubs
Broadcaster Beth Mowins, the first woman to call Cubs games, outside Wrigley Field on March 17, 2021. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
- Friday: vs. Angels, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Saturday: vs. Angels, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Sunday: vs. Angels, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: at Orioles, 5:35 p.m., Marquee
- Wednesday: at Orioles, 5:35 p.m., Marquee
- Thursday: at Orioles, 5:35 p.m., Marquee
For the first time in Cubs television broadcast history, an all-female crew will call Sunday’s game against the Angels.
Beth Mowins (play-by-play), Elise Menaker (analyst) and Taylor McGregor (field reporter) will team up for the game. All three have been part of Marquee broadcasts the last few years, but this is the first opportunity for the trio to work together.
“It’s an honor, it’s exciting and historical — I mean, that’s the part that it’s hard to wrap my head around,” Menaker told the Tribune on Thursday. “But I’m sure at some point, I’ll look back and really appreciate it and see the impact. What I’m really excited for is to get to be together with them in roles that we normally perform. They’re so talented and we just hope to bring out the best in each other on this day.”
Mowins has called select Cubs games since 2021. She’s known for her work on ESPN calling primarily men’s and women’s college sports. In 2017 Mowins became the first woman in 30 years to call an NFL game.
McGregor joined Marquee when the network launched in 2020 and is the primary field reporter for Cubs games. She previously worked as an on-field reporter for the Colorado Rockies with AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain for two seasons and also appears as an MLB Network host and works the sidelines for college football games on ESPN.
Menaker has been a field reporter and studio host since February 2020. In 2022 she became the first woman to serve as a television analyst for a Cubs game, and in 2023 she became the first woman to be a radio analyst for a Cubs game. Her work has included joining play-by-play broadcaster Alex Cohen as the analyst for Triple-A Iowa games on Marquee.
“That’s something that I’ve always said about any of the work that I do: I don’t just want to do it, I want to do it well,” Menaker said. “That’s what will create opportunity. You have to rely on your hard work and know that one day it will pay off because a lot of it is perseverance. We’re seeing more women in more roles, and now the goal is just to have that become the norm really.”
Week ahead: White Sox
- Friday: at Marlins, 6:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Saturday: at Marlins, 3:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Sunday: at Marlins, 12:40 p.m., NBCSCH
- Monday: vs. Twins, 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Tuesday: vs. Twins, 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Wednesday: vs. Twins, 1:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Thursday: off
The Sox are in line for a reunion with former teammates Jake Burger and Declan Cronin this weekend in Miami.
They’ll just miss seeing Tim Anderson after the Marlins designated the shortstop for assignment Tuesday.
Anderson, a two-time All-Star with the Sox who won a batting title in 2019, hit .214 in 234 at-bats with three extra-base hits in 65 games with the Marlins.
“This is a really tough game, and it’s unfortunate that happened to Timmy,” Grifol said earlier this week. “I’m going to tell you this: I believe in Timmy. I’ve had many conversations with him. I know what’s in his heart. I know what type of talent he’s got. And, yeah, he’s fallen into some adverse times, but I believe in the player, I believe in the heart, I believe in the talent.
“And I hope he gets an opportunity to go back out there and continue to play the game he really loves. It was a little shocking to me. He was one of the best players in baseball a couple years ago and I just don’t think you lose it like that. I hope he gets an opportunity to go play somewhere and help somebody.”
What we’re reading this morning
- Column: Kyle Schwarber has thrived since being let go by Jed Hoyer. The Cubs? Not so much.
- ‘Phenomenal’ Garrett Crochet earns 1st White Sox pitcher of month honor since 2022
- As Shota Imanaga continues to build a case for All-Star Game, the Cubs lose 5-3 to the Phillies
- MLB draft, trade deadline and All-Star activities: What’s ahead for the White Sox in July
- After a slow start, Cubs have become one of MLB’s most efficient base-stealing teams
- As Cubs lose another series opener, this time to MLB-best Phillies, the outlook remains bleak
- Home Run Derby is changing its format this year. Here’s what will be different.
- Column: Here’s what to know as a critical July begins for the Cubs, White Sox — and yes, the Bulls
- Kim Ng, who spent 21 years in MLB front offices, hired as senior advisor for Athletes Unlimited Softball League
- Column: White Sox host their 1st Mexican Heritage Night to a sold-out crowd, highlights the love Mexicans have for the ‘team of the people’
This week in Chicago baseball
July 6, 1933: Comiskey Park hosts baseball’s first All-Star Game
Long before the movie version, Arch Ward created a field of dreams. His was called “The Game of the Century,” and the Chicago Tribune sports editor based it on a perennial fantasy of baseball fans:
If Sweetbread Bailey was pitching and Babe Ruth was batting, who would prevail?
His imagination conceived a means to settle such puzzlers: a contest pitting the best players of each league during a World’s Fair celebrating Chicago’s 100th birthday.
“A smart inspiration in the Tribune’s sporting department will give Chicago as an incident of the Fair, the baseball game of all time,” the paper reported on May 23, 1933. “The baseball managements could have found a million reasons why it could not be done but found every reason why it should be.”
The birth of the All-Star Game was a fortuitous byproduct of the Great Depression. In 1933, Edward Kelly, Chicago’s newly installed mayor, was worried. The city was committed to hosting a World’s Fair. But with millions of Americans out of work, how could Chicago attract enough visitors to ensure the fair’s success?
Kelly took the question to Col. Robert R. McCormick, the Tribune’s publisher. There was discussion of an athletic event, and McCormick turned the problem over to Ward, who had a talent for not only covering athletic events but creating them.
By Ward’s design, the lineups for the game were established by a democratic process. The Tribune asked readers to vote for their favorite players, and 47 papers quickly followed suit.
“The count will be forwarded to the Tribune every few days,” Ward explained. “At least twice the number of papers which have already joined will be enrolled in a few days, judging from the inquires over the weekend.”
That transformed the contest from a single ballgame into a daily faceoff between fans. Some moved players around like a savvy manager. The American League had two hard-hitting first basemen. When the Yankees’ Lou Gehrig piled up an unbeatable lead, fans of the Athletics’ Jimmie Foxx still wanted him in the game.
But the White Sox’s Jimmy Dykes won the position, and the American League, bolstered by Ruth’s two-run homer, beat the National League 4-2.
Quotable
“My big thing is we can only control what we can control on the pitcher side. There’s been plenty of times the offense has put up some big runs and we give it right back. That’s something that we’ve been working on focusing on as a group: to continue to put down those shutdown innings when the offense does rally and puts up some big hits.” — Tommy Hottovy on Cubs pitchers being involved in so many close games this year
