GOOD MORNING, CHICAGO FANS

Were you able to relax for a couple days when MLB took a break? I definitely didn’t, but I found some down time this weekend! All-Star festivities are typically TOO much of a break for Chicago teams, but the Cubs were actually well represented in Atlanta this year. Shoutout to PCA, Kyle Tucker, and Matthew Boyd!

CHICAGO CUBS

W - Cubs 4, Red Sox 1

Second Half Seiya!

• Seiya Suzuki hit a 3-R HR after Michael Busch and Kyle Tucker both walked to start the 1st inning

• Cubs ended the Red Sox 10-game winning streak

• Colin Rea threw 5 innings of 1-run ball, and the bullpen tossed a 4-inning shutout as Jon Lester looked on from the seats in a Ryne Sandberg jersey

W - Cubs 6, Red Sox 0

The Sho must go on

• Shota Imanaga picked up right where he left off with 7 shutout innings

• Cubs hit 5 HRs, including 2 sets of back-to-back HRs - Busch and Tucker homered to start the 1st!

L - Red Sox 6, Cubs 1

Bregman in a pinch

• Could-have-been-a-Cub Alex Bregman hit a 3-R pinch-hit HR in the 8th to seal the deal

• Cade Horton (5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) looked great before Ryan Pressly and Drew Pomeranz allowed 5 ER combined

• Cubs managed 8 hits off ace Garrett Crochet but only knocked in 1 run

Star of the Week ⭐ Shota Imanaga

1 win, 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Play of the Week 🎥 Kyle Tucker sliding catch

⭐ All-Star Game ⭐

• Kyle Tucker hit 7th and PCA hit 9th (should have led off instead of Ohtani, in my opinion) for the National League

• PCA was 1-for-2 with a double

• Tucker was 0-for-2, made a nice sliding catch as a LEFT fielder, and even caught a fly ball PCA would normally get while PCA was talking to the broadcasters 😂

• The legend of Kyle Schwarber continues: he hit 3 homers on his 3 swings in the first ever swing-off to give the NL the win after a 6-6 9-inning tie

MLB Draft

The remainder of the draft (Rounds 4-20) was last Monday, and the Cubs came away with 12 more pitchers in their group of 17 picks.

They also selected 2 catchers, 2 outfielders, and a third baseman.

Kade Snell and Josiah Hartshorn, both outfielders, were selected in the 5th and 6th rounds. Both exhibit the batted ball profile the Cubs are looking for with excellent plate discipline and developing power. Nice way to round out an impressive group that began in Rounds 1-4 and will fill out the Cubs minor league outfields!

Otherwise, it seems the Cubs targeted tall pitchers and players coming off of injury who may have slipped in the draft, You can never have too many arms!

Check out a list of all the Cubs’ Day 2 picks here.

NL Central Standings

T/1) Cubs 59-40

T/1) Brewers 59-40

3) Reds 52-48

4) Cardinals 51-49

5) Pirates 39-61

Those pesky Brewers will NOT go away. The Cubs and Brewers are only 0.5 games behind the Tigers for the best record in all of MLB.

Somehow, the Brewers just swept the Dodgers in a 3-game series and have won 10 games in a row…can we just ban them from MLB now? I’m so sick of their weird magic or luck or whatever it is.

Cubs were 57-39 at the All-Star break.

Last year? 47-51. 2023? 42-57.

Answer will be at the end of this newsletter!

I wrote an in-depth review of the Cubs’ first half of the season. Who exceeded expectations, who fell short, remembering the 10 best games, and more:

SCHEDULE 📅 M/T/W/F/SAT/SUN

CHICAGO BEARS

OFFSEASON

Agreed to contracts with all 3 second round draft picks (Luther Burden, Ozzy Trapilo, Shemar Turner)

Training Camp!!!

• Rookies and QBs reported to camp on Saturday

• Placed Jaylon Johnson, WR Jahdae Walker, and RB Ian Wheeler on the Active/Non-Football Injury List

• Veterans will report to camp on Tuesday - can’t wait to hear about camp practices this week!!

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

OFFSEASON

Schedule Release!

• Opener: October 7th at 4pm CT at the reigning champion Florida Panthers - yet another season opener to be delayed by an opponent’s banner raising

• Start the season at Florida and at Boston before the home opener vs. Montreal

• Jonathan Toews makes his emotional return to the United Center on January 19th

Signed #3 overall pick Anton Frondell to a 3-year, entry-level contract ($975K cap hit). Frondell’s agent confirmed that he WILL play in Sweden this year, and it’s doubtful he even joins the Hawks for training camp.

Signed G Stanislav Berezhnoy to a 2-year, entry-level contract ($975K cap hit). He had a huge year in Russia on 2 different teams (.928 SV%, 2.50 GAA in 27 games), and he’ll most likely back up Drew Commesso at Rockford this year.

CHICAGO BULLS

OFFSEASON

Summer League

Bulls 114, Pacers 105

Bulls 102, Bucks 96

Bulls 105, Jazz 92

3 straight wins after starting 0-2! Unfortunately, they missed out on the 4-team playoff.

Matas Buzelis played in his 2nd and final Summer League game on Monday. He found his groove and dominated with 28 points and 5 rebounds on 8/14 FG. Buzelis and Noa Essengue showed us a glimpse of the future as Essengue dropped 21 points in his final game due to injury.

Yuki Kawamura had 3 more electric games with a handful of highlight reel passes to add to his resume. He had 2 double-doubles with games of 15p/10a, 6p/6a, and 20p/10a. The Bulls actually pulled the trigger and give him a contract, so I’m dreaming of a Nate Robinson/John Lucas III/DJ Augustin type role for Yuki at the UC!

Jahmir Young scored 37 points vs. the Bucks!! Javon Freeman-Liberty had 22p/9r/6a vs. the Jazz to put a stamp on a strong Summer League.

👏 Signed Yuki Kawamura to a 2-way contract, waived Jahmir Young

Bonus Play of the Week 🎥 Yuki Kawamura passes

We are STILL waiting for Josh Giddey extension news. In the meantime, I thought about whether or not Giddey and Coby White can be the Bulls backcourt duo of the future. Read about it here:

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Pete Crow-Armstrong

PCA was mic’d up during the All-Star game and talked to the broadcast booth while roaming center field.

He was entertaining as always, but he had a great answer to a question about kids wanting to be like him. Watch here:

MILD TAKE

Re-signing Josh Giddey is a smart move.

I think most Bulls fans have accepted that the front office is committed to Josh Giddey being a Bull. Whether it’s because of his talent or the cost of giving up Alex Caruso that continues to sway their opinion, we don’t know. But it also seems like most fans don’t believe Giddey is a good player.

Giddey and Coby White are currently the two best players on the roster, and neither of them have a quantifiable ceiling. I believe Matas Buzelis has the biggest upside and star potential on the team, but Giddey and White took massive steps last year and continue to improve.

Giddey is a 6’8” point guard, is only 22 years old, shot 37.8% from 3PT last season, averaged 14.6p/8.1r/7.2a per game last season, has 18 career triple-doubles, finally showed he can make a difference on defense, learned how to use his size to effectively drive into the lane, and can quarterback an entire offense.

That’s the kind of player you want to keep around. Some may not believe in him because of past defensive struggles or his checkered history with the Thunder, but he has elite skills and is starting to put it all together.

Hand the keys to Josh Giddey and see the offense rise up. Get the deal done.

HITTING THE LINKS

Courtney Cronin - Three things we know about Dennis Allen's plan to fix Bears D (ESPN)

Joel Lorenzi - Derrick Rose eager to shine light on NBA’s secret obsession: Chess (The Athletic)

Zack Meisel and Patrick Mooney - Matthew Boyd’s winding All-Star journey: ‘One of the best human beings you’re ever going to be around’ (The Athletic)

Chicago Cubs - PCA's Crazy Catches in LA | The Breakdown (YouTube)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

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Thanks for reading! Find some room next to your baseball mitts. It’s football season again!!!

The 2016 Cubs were 53-35 at the All-Star Break. 18 games over .500, you say?