The Rundown: Reds Flatten Cubs’ Sails, Soroka News Better Than Expected, SportsCenter Comes to Wrigley Rooftops
“Don’t make me feel any colder. Time is like a clock in my heart.” – Time (Clock of the Heart) by Culture Club
Don’t look now, but the Reds are just 5.5 games behind the Cubs for second place in the NL Central and a potential Wild Card berth. That should seem like a relatively safe lead unless you travel back to June 19. The Cubs had the same lead over the Brewers and a seemingly unfettered path to a division championship. Chicago has barely played .500 ball (20-19) since.
I could tell you what’s wrong with the Cubs, but I’d rather not repeat yesterday’s Rundown verbatim, so I’ll simply add nuance and make this a companion piece. We are one week into August and the offensive numbers since we abandoned July reflect a cold streak that feels a lot more like late autumn than mid-summer.
Michael Busch is 2-for-16 (.125) in five August tilts. His fat 146 OPS+ indicates that he’s simply slumping and will pull out of it. You can say the same about Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker, and Seiya Suzuki. ‘Neath the halo of a Waveland Avenue street lamp, the heart of Chicago’s order is a combined 9-for-63 (.163) with a single extra base hit since August 1. And don’t forget that bullpen implosions cost the team at least two potential victories, so even winning two of the five games borders on miraculous Silence, like a cancer, grows.
Is the glass half-full or half-empty then? That’s tough to say. The Cubs don’t look like a playoff team, especially at Wrigley Field, which is no longer the launching pad it seemed to be decades ago. When last season ended, Jed Hoyer pointed to wind and weather as the main culprits behind Chicago’s suppressed offense. Indeed, the wind has blown straight in from center in each of this month’s five games. The Cubs are averaging 2.4 runs per game in those contests, which won’t beat anybody.
Opposing pitchers are also striking out Chicago’s batters at a higher rate when the wind blows in, particularly from — you guessed it — center. The heuristics are pretty simple: Those gusts aid pitch velocity, and the Cubs have historically struggled against fastballs that reach 95 mph or more, though the guys mentioned above are excellent fastball hitters.
What does it all mean? Exactly what was written in this space yesterday. The Cubs are fighting through an offensive slump that has subsumed the entire lineup. It’s unfortunately and dramatically amplified by the Brewers’ historic run, so the timing is as bad as it gets. Milwaukee is due for some regression, while Chicago is bound to recover, though time has become an equally formidable foe. The North Siders may have to sweep the Brewers in the upcoming homestand (August 18-21) just to stay in the race. Let’s hope calmer winds prevail until then.
Cubs News & Notes
- Reliever Nate Pearson took the Iowa shuttle back to Wrigley Field when the Cubs placed Michael Soroka on the IL.
- Hoyer said he understood the risks when he acquired Soroka and fully accepts he may have made a mistake. The president of baseball operations said he tried to sign the 28-year-old righty last winter. Soroka should be pretty inexpensive this time around.
- Craig Counsell said imaging showed a “low-to-mid-grade” strain and that Soroka would be shut down for 7-10 days before being re-evaluated. The Cubs have two days off in the next week, and Ben Brown will be asked to eat some innings. Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad are expected back soon, so Counsell has options.
- Shōta Imanaga was stellar Tuesday night, but Andrew Kittredge struggled. The new acquisition was charged with four runs in just 0.1 innings as his season ERA jumped more than a point from 3.24 to 4.28.
- Counsell said that worrying about the Brewers is counterproductive.
- The North Siders have historically battled through some hard lessons with genuine teachable moments. The Lee Elia rant, for example, teaches us more than your standard philosophy course.
Ball Four
It’s not like Chicago’s sluggers lost their muscle or forgot how to hit. Then again, Suzuki has just one big fly since this game.
Sunday Night Seiya 😤
Seiya Suzuki's incredible season continues with home run No. 25! pic.twitter.com/sLR9dqd3Vu
— MLB (@MLB) July 7, 2025
Central Intelligence
- Milwaukee (69-44): The Brewers have won 44 of their last 60 games, the best extended stretch of baseball in team history. The team’s 33-24 road record gives Milwaukee the best winning percentage (.579) away from home in baseball.
- Cincinnati (60-44): The Reds needed rotation help and acquired Zack Littell from the Rays for Adam Serwinowski and Brian Van Belle. It was a fortuitous decision that makes the Soroka injury a little more painful for Cubs fans.
- St. Louis (57-58): The Cardinals are reportedly on the cusp of promoting top prospect JJ Wetherholt. The 22-year-old is slashing 344/.425/.754 with six homers, 12 RBIs, five doubles, and 19 runs scored in 16 Triple-A games.
- Pittsburgh: The Pirates have no plans to raise payroll in 2026 and there is growing speculation that GM Ben Cherington could lose his job. Why would he want to stay?
How About That!
Are you ready to talk about offseason trade candidates, or are you still recuperating from last week’s leaguewide fire sale? Caveat Emptor: Joe Kelly, MacKenzie Gore, Mitch Keller, and Sandy Alcántara — all recently linked to the Cubs — made this list.
Gore has really hit the skids, and it’s difficult to watch.
The Padres demoted starter JP Sears to Triple-A, one appearance after he was acquired from the A’s.
Cal Raleigh is on pace to swat 60 home runs this season. Salvador Perez holds the record for most home runs by a catcher with 48. Raleigh has 42 taters so far this season, leading the majors.
Several MLB teams are exploring alumni home run derbies. Who remembers when teams used to annually schedule old-timers games? Brewers manager Pat Murphy sees Milwaukee battle the Cubs in a legacy home run contest. I’ll take Sammy Sosa and Glenallen Hill for the win.
Yesterday’s top two minor league performances came from a pair of Brewers prospects. O Death, where is thy sting?
Extra Innings
ESPN will be hosting SportsCenter from the Wrigley Rooftops this afternoon. The event is part of the station’s nationwide tour designed to bring its flagship program and its anchors directly to fans across America. Both the 2 p.m. ET and 6 p.m. ET SportsCenter will air from the rooftops.
Nicole Briscoe, who also went to Hononegah Community High School in Rockton and was Miss Illinois Teen USA in 1998, will be today’s on-site anchor.
50 states. 50 days 🗺️
📍 Here’s where @SportsCenter is headed this summer ➡️ https://t.co/8gZyurlyym
From Alaska to Maine, the road starts Friday, June 27th with @notthefakeSVP in Washington D.C. (5p ET, ESPN) pic.twitter.com/yY5BTkLuBO
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) June 16, 2025
They Said It
- “We knew [Soroka’s] velocity was trending down. We talked through that extensively. Given the market, given the asking price … we felt like it was a good bet to make. Right now, it’s not looking like a good bet. [His] risk profile was known. We spent a lot of time on that. … We did a lot of due diligence, a ton of research, and if it doesn’t work out, it’s on me.” – Hoyer
- “There’s real upside in Mike. And we had a lot of different development opportunities to make him even better. We knew the velocity was sort of trending down [and] talked through that extensively. We felt like, given the market and given the asking price and given all those different things, we felt like it was a good bet to make. Ultimately, he walked off the mound [with an injury].” – Hoyer
- “I think Assad’s a possibility after this star. He’s pitching [Wednesday]. We need to get him through that. He needs to be on the mound more, still. That’s important to be fair to him, really, to be in competition more. But I think he becomes a possibility. The off-days this week and next week are helpful to get us to the time when those [Taillon and Assad] are available and prepared.” – Counsell
Wednesday Walk-Up Song
Let’s try something much more upbeat today.
