The Rundown Lite: Cubs’ Need for Offensive Upgrade Becoming More Obvious, Caissie & Wiggins in Futures Game
The Cubs are off today, a situation made far more bearable by the fact that the Brewers lost to the Rockies in extra innings yesterday to keep the division lead at two games. I normally relish these days off in the summer because it means I can relax a bit from the grind of slaving away in the content mines, but being gone a good chunk of last week means I barely have time to catch my breath. With July one sleep away and the All-Star break just two weeks out, this sprint to the end of the first half could be fun.
A trip to the Bronx to battle the Yankees concludes the run, but hosting the Cardinals over the holiday weekend will be huge. It’s a bit strange that nine of the Cubs’ next 12 games and 18 of 24 in July will come against AL opponents. Those other six are against the Cards and Brewers, which makes those few remaining contests that much more important.
It also makes Jed Hoyer’s pursuit of reinforcements more important.
Hot corner help increasingly likely
Pitching has long been an obvious trade target for the Cubs, but an offensive upgrade is looking more likely all the time. And even with Matt Shaw playing superb defense at third, all indications are that the Cubs will look to shore up that position ahead of the deadline. That’s less an indictment of Shaw and more about getting a boost on the right side of the plate.
Justin Turner has been a tremendous clubhouse presence and was outperforming Michael Busch against lefty pitchers, but he’s failed to find a groove offensively and his glove is a liability. Enter Eugenio Suárez, who the Diamondbacks might look to unload in the last year of his contract. That looks like the ideal option to me, as Suarez is in the midst of perhaps the best season of his career. His power is an obvious upgrade, plus he doesn’t block Shaw.
A report of interest in Ke’Bryan Hayes raised eyebrows, but it wouldn’t make much sense to add a defense-first guy with five more years of control. Hayes might be an upgrade with the glove, but his offense has never been outstanding and doesn’t figure to become so. We previously looked at the possibility of adding Ryan McMahon, but he’s still got at least one more year of control at $11.67 million AAV and might not be better than Shaw on either side.
Getting more expensive with only a marginal improvement doesn’t seem like Hoyer’s MO. If anything, he could opt to take a more conservative route by adding Jeimer Candelario yet again. Recently DFA’d and released by the Reds, the Candy Man would come at minimal cost and risk. Of course, even a small bet on someone with a .410 OPS might not be worth it.
Whatever route they take, the Cubs have to upgrade a bench currently populated by Turner, Jon Berti, and Vidal Brujan. As rough as Turner’s output has been, he’s at least 20% better than either of those current teammates. Turner’s 62 wRC+ looks positively glowing compared to Berti (42) and Brujan (9), neither of whom brings anything other than speed to the table.
Turner’s spot should be secure based on the intangibles, making Suárez a massive upgrade over one of the other two.
Caissie, Wiggins Named to Futures Game
Both outfielder Owen Caissie and right-handed pitcher Jaxon Wiggins have been named to the Futures Game, which is cool. There are questions as to whether either will actually play, however, as Wiggins was scratched from scheduled starts twice last week and Caissie hasn’t played since June 25. That seems like more than just load management, though we’re still two weeks out from the game.
Movie trailer time
I was going to dive into something on Dansby Swanson‘s poor performance with runners in scoring position, but our washing machine just went kaput. As such, I wanted to share the trailer for the upcoming sci-fi flick “Project Hail Mary.” My first thought is that Interstellar and The Martian had a baby.
First trailer for Phil Lord & Chris Miller’s ‘PROJECT HAIL MARY’, starring Ryan Gosling
The film follows a teacher who is sent 12 light-years away from Earth to save humanity after the Sun began to erode.
In theaters on March 20, 2026. pic.twitter.com/lPtD5tjbYT
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) June 30, 2025
That’s all for now, hoping to get back in the mines later.
