The Cubs are closing out the season with 10 of their final 13 games at Wrigley Field.
They were positioned well with the schedule featuring four of their final five series against teams with a losing record. Instead, the Cubs entered Thursday 11 games back of the division-clinching Milwaukee Brewers and seven games out of a National League wild-card spot.
The White Sox have a tall task ahead of them in hopes of avoiding baseball history.
At 36-117, they need to win seven of their final nine games to avoid tying the record held by the 1962 New York Mets (40-120) for the most losses in a season during the modern era.
The Sox play three games this weekend against the San Diego Padres — one of the top teams in baseball — at Petco Park. They return to Guaranteed Rate Field for their final home games of the season with three against the Los Angeles Angels, who just took two of three from the Sox in Anaheim, Calif.
And then the Sox close the season with a three-game series in Detroit. The Tigers are in the hunt for an American League wild-card spot.
Every Friday during the regular season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Cubs and White Sox. Want more? Sign up for our newsletters.
Julian Merryweather to undergo season-ending surgery
Right-hander Julian Merryweather, coming off the best season of his career, will end 2024 with just 15 appearances out of the Cubs bullpen.
Merryweather is undergoing season-ending right patellar tendon debridement surgery Friday. The Cubs anticipate Merryweather will be ready for spring training, manager Craig Counsell said Thursday. It’s not a new injury that cropped up during his five rehab outings with Triple-A Iowa — the knee issue affected Merryweather throughout this season and at points last year.
“It just didn’t get over the hump here to merit him pitching for the rest of the season,” Counsell said. “Surgery’s kind of always been an option here since he went on the IL and determined at this point to go forward with it.
“You don’t want to have surgery if you don’t have to, but at some point it affects you to the point where it’s not getting better. … It just starts to affect too much, and that’s when you have to say, ‘I’ve got to go get it fixed.’ ”
Merryweather, who turns 33 next month, also missed nearly four months with a right rib stress fracture that kept him out until late July. The Cubs have been hit hard with injuries to their high-leverage relievers, being without right-handers Adbert Alzolay (out since May 13 and eventually needed Tommy John surgery) and Yency Almonte (out since May 8 and ultimately needed right shoulder surgery).
Merryweather, Alzolay and Almonte combined to pitch in only 50 games after appearing in 176 last year.
“When the leverage pieces get taken away quickly, that’s harder to kind of address, there’s no question about it,” Counsell said. “And it requires certainly more work, but it’s just also a lesson in just the importance of having solutions and plans to make sure that you do your best to cover for it or to keep the situation as usable and successful as possible.”
‘Man, this is sick’: Sox starter Sean Burke soaking in major-league experience
Sox pitcher Sean Burke had plenty of conversations with teammates and opponents about life in the majors while in the minors.
“Everybody says it’s awesome, and getting here (and) my first day I was thinking, ‘Man, this is sick,’ ” Burke told the Tribune Monday. “And that feeling really hasn’t left me.
“I’m still showing up today like, ‘This is awesome.’ I’m just trying to soak it all in. Enjoying myself a lot up here.”
Burke made his major-league debut Sept. 10, allowing one unearned run on three hits with three strikeouts and a walk in three relief innings against the Cleveland Guardians. The 2021 third-round pick earned his first big-league win in his first start on Sept. 15, allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks in five innings against the Oakland Athletics.
Burke, 24, said it was tough picking just one standout moment.
“My first game, my debut — it was special to have my family up there, all able to make the trip on short notice,” he said. “Every day I’ve been up here has had a little moment or part of the day where I’ve been like, ‘This is cool.’”
Burke saw the Sept. 10 relief outing as helpful leading into the first start.
“Just getting that first-game jitters, excitement, adrenaline rush out of the way,” Burke said. “And throwing the first day I got here and having four or five days to see how the other starters were kind of going about their starts, too, was helpful.
“Instead of Day 1 getting thrown into a start and not really knowing the pregame schedule in different stadiums — you don’t know when pregame stuff is going to start. So being able to watch them the first couple of days and being able to plan out my day was helpful.”
Burke is slated to start Sunday’s series finale against the Padres.
Number of the week: 59
The Sox are 16-59 (.213) on the road — the lowest winning percentage in a full season since the 1963 Mets (17-64, .210). Their 59 road losses are the most in a season in club history.
Tracking the White Sox’s record-setting losses
Record: 36-117
The Sox are three shy of tying the mark of most losses, set by the 1962 Mets, who went 40-120 in their first season. The 117 losses are a franchise record and place the Sox in a tie with the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (36-117) for the third-most defeats in a season in the modern era.
The Sox are two losses from matching the American League record of 119 held by the 2003 Tigers (43-119). That team won five of its final six games to avoid the ’62 Mets mark.
Week ahead: Cubs
- Friday: vs. Nationals, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Saturday: vs. Nationals, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Sunday: vs. Nationals, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Monday: at Phillies, 6:40 p.m., Marquee
- Tuesday: at Phillies, 6:40 p.m., Marquee
- Wednesday: at Phillies, 6:05 p.m., Marquee
- Thursday: off
Ian Happ’s mix of plate discipline and power has given the Cubs an ideal balance at the top of their lineup.
Happ has filled the leadoff spot in 58 games and this year, posting a .257 average, .346 on-base percentage and .447 slugging percentage with nine home runs and 32 RBIs.
“The first two months were a little bit of a struggle, the last four months of the season have been fabulous,” Counsell said. “Probably as good a stretch as offensively that he’s been for a long period. And this year it’s ended up to be at the top of the lineup, and I think he’s done a really good job with that.”
His success as the leadoff man is helping fuel one of his best seasons. Happ’s 25 home runs entering Thursday have tied his career high, while his 124 OPS+ is his best over a full season since 2019.
Week ahead: White Sox
- Friday: at Padres, 8:40 p.m. (NBCSCH)
- Saturday: at Padres, 7:40 p.m. (NBCSCH)
- Sunday: at Padres, 3:10 p.m. (NBCSCH)
- Monday: off
- Tuesday vs. Angels, 6:40 p.m. (NBCSCH)
- Wednesday: vs. Angels, 6:40 p.m. (NBCSCH)
- Thursday: vs. Angels, 1:10 p.m. (NBCSCH)
Physically and mentally, Sox starter Davis Martin feels like he’s just about to hit the All-Star break. The right-hander has made 10 appearances (nine starts) since returning from Tommy John surgery.
“I feel great,” Martin said.
As the season winds down, Sox starters are looking to make the most of their final outings.
“What I want to accomplish is continue competing in the zone and continue throwing five pitches for strikes and really put a good building block on for next year and put my case to be in this rotation for a long time,” Martin said.
Jonathan Cannon has won two of his last three starts. He struck out seven in 6 2/3 innings in Monday’s 8-4 win against the Angels at Angel Stadium.
“It helps build confidence going into the offseason and then next year,” Cannon said. “Every start, trying to work on something to get better. I’ve been proud of the way I’ve been able to do that the last couple of weeks. Especially getting strike one. That’s been the biggest thing for me.”
What we’re reading this morning
- Column: The White Sox have perfected the art of losing. Can they avoid the most embarrassing moment in franchise history?
- Column: The talent is there for the Cubs. So why is another promising season fading to black?
- 3 takeaways from the White Sox’s latest series loss, including No. 117 and a ‘do or die moment’ for Chad Kuhl
- Cubs rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong dazzling on defense while he continues to learn
- ‘The road was difficult.’ Yoán Moncada focused on finishing his White Sox season healthy after lengthy IL stint.
- Chicago Sports Network and DirecTV announce deal, but holes in TV viewing market remain ahead of launch
- Legislators say they’re still skeptical about public funding for new White Sox stadium after team-sponsored cruise
- Brewers outperform preseason expectations again to win 3rd NL Central title in 4 years
Quotable
“Just getting to regularly start essentially, he’s handled that and deserved it and kept earning it throughout the season, and I’m proud of him for that, and he should be proud of that.” — Counsell on right-hander Javier Assad’s performance
