GOOD MORNING, CHICAGO FANS

It feels like the majority of the summer is still ahead of us, but the beginning of football training camp gives me hope that the humidity will break soon. The Monday Night Football theme song is nearly blasting out of the TV already. The Bears are back!

Windy Conditions now has a TikTok! Give me a follow here.

CHICAGO CUBS

L - ROYALS 12 CUBS 4

WE’VE BEN HERE BEFORE

• Ben Brown returned to the majors and struggled after taking the ball from opener Ryan Brasier (4.0 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 6 ER)

• Chris Flexen also had a rough outing in relief (3.0 IP, 7 H, 5 ER)

• Matt Shaw and Carson Kelly homered

W - CUBS 6 ROYALS 0

RICH HILL RETURNS HOME

• 45-year old Rich Hill, whose MLB debut was with the Cubs on June 15th, 2005, started for his 14th major league team and gave up 3 runs in 5 innings

• Matthew Boyd improved his Cy Young bid with ANOTHER brilliant start (7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

L - ROYALS 8 CUBS 4

2-RUN BOMBS FOR EVERYONE

• Colin Rea was beat up by the long ball (5.0 IP, 5 ER) as the Royals hit 4 2-R HRs in the game

• Seth Lugo made easy work of the Cubs (6.0 IP, 2 ER)

• Pete Crow-Armstrong and Shaw (AGAIN!) homered

L - WHITE SOX 12 CUBS 5

GUARANTEED PLATE

• Shota Imanaga got hammered in his worst-ever MLB start (3.0 IP, 12 H, 7 ER)

• Vidal Brujan and Reese McGuire combined for 6 of the Cubs’ 9 hits, and McGuire hit a 3-R HR

• Jon Berti made his 4th pitching appearance of the month 😬

W - CUBS 6 WHITE SOX 1

CADE WAS MADE FOR THIS

• Cade Horton shut down the Sox in 6.1 scoreless innings (4 H, 1 BB, 3 K) - his 3rd scoreless start in his last 4 times out

• Cubs broke the 0-0 tie in the 7th with Ian Happ and Shaw homers

W - CUBS 5 WHITE SOX 4

PALENCIA SHUTS THE DOOR

• Daniel Palencia salvaged the game and the series with a 4-out save

• Ben Brown bounced back with a very solid effort! (5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K)

• This was a weird baseball game: Happ trucked over Colson Montgomery for a run and Nico Hoerner intentionally let a popup fall for an infield fly rule double play

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Matt Shaw

8-for-20 (.400 AVG), 3 HRs, 9 RBI, 1 BB to 1 K

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Dansby Swanson diving double play

Recalled Ben Brown from AAA, optioned Ethan Roberts to AAA

Signed RHP Zach Pop to a minor-league deal

MLB Pipeline released their new Top 30 Prospects lists for each team. The new Cubs Top 5 is: Owen Caissie, Moises Ballesteros, Jefferson Rojas, Kevin Alcantara, and Jaxon Wiggins.

Injured players Miguel Amaya, Jameson Taillon, Porter Hodge, and Javier Assad will all join AAA Iowa soon as they inch closer to returning

Trade Deadline

Thursday @ 5:00pm

There have been PLENTY of trade rumors involving the Cubs.

• My ideal deadline? 1 high-end starter with years of control (Joe Ryan or MacKenzie Gore?), 1 depth starter, 2 high leverage relievers, and some bench bats

• Cubs have been tied to 3B Eugenio Suarez from the Diamondbacks despite Matt Shaw’s resurgence. Suarez is tied for 4th in MLB with 36 HRs and is a free agent after this year. As much as a blazing hot slugger could help the Cubs offense go from very good to elite, I’m not sure if the cost will be worth it. Moving Shaw back to AAA or to a bench role seems counterintuitive at this point.

• Cubs are interested in many starting pitcher options, but one is off the table: Seth Lugo signed a contract extension with the Royals.

• This could be an explosive week! Pleeeeease bring on the pitching reinforcements!

Next Up ➡️ Huge series against the Brewers! They’re currently tied for 1st in the NL Central!

SCHEDULE 📅 M/T/W/F/SAT/SUN

CHICAGO BEARS

OFFSEASON

TRAINING CAMP

The entire team reported to camp on Tuesday, and practices began on Wednesday!

• Braxton Jones and Colston Loveland are back from injury already! They’ll both have a ramp-up period to get back to football activities

• Jaylon Johnson has a leg injury and will be out for a few weeks 😢

• Ben Johnson’s goal for Caleb Williams this year? Complete 70% of his passes

• Caleb Williams’ goal for Caleb Williams this year? Complete 70% of his passes AND be the first 4,000-yard passer in franchise history

• Confirmed 3-man competition for the left tackle position as expected: Amegadjie, Jones, Trapilo

• Nahshon Wright has impressed at corner as the CB group gets more reps with the first team due to Jaylon Johnson’s injury

• People are talking up the running back room - D’Andre Swift is “on a mission”, Kyle Monangai looks quick and built right, and Roschon Johnson is more comfortable

• Practices were intense! The entire defense was doing up-downs as the coaching staff made their high expectations very clear

Signed veterans DL Tanoh Kpassagnon and DB Tre Flowers, waived DE Jereme Robinson

Released DB/Special Teamer Tarvarius Moore who played in 11 games last season

After reflecting on the Ryan Poles contract extension, I decide to write about my cautious excitement. Poles is easy to root for, but it also feels like we’re going in circles. Read it here:

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

OFFSEASON

Re-signed RFA G Arvid Soderblom to a 2-year contract ($2.75M cap hit)

Sodie had a much better 2024-2025 season after a rough go the previous year. He had a 3.18 GAA and .898 SV% in 33 starts.

He and Spencer Knight will be the Hawks’ duo this coming season, and they should be a fun pair to watch!

CHICAGO BULLS

OFFSEASON

Billy Donovan officially signed his multi-year contract extension we heard about a long time ago. Glad to see Billy sticking around!

Newly signed guard Yuki Kawamura will wear jersey number…8.

In the last decade, players have been ridiculed for claiming the #1 jersey. Zach LaVine’s number was immediately grabbed out of the dumpster.

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Pete Crow-Armstrong

🚨 Repeat winner 🚨

PCA earns himself a 2nd straight salute by making some kids’ day in Wrigleyville! Watch below:

HM: Jaquan Brisker held a free clinic for kids in Chicago

MILD TAKE

We don’t have to decide if the Cubs go “all in” at the trade deadline.

There are a lot of phrases and debates that don’t need a place in the sports world.

One of them is this: going “all in” at a trade deadline is a fan construct that bears no meaning for teams and how they should or shouldn’t handle business.

For some, if Owen Caissie is still in the Cubs organization Thursday evening, they will believe the Cubs didn’t push enough chips in to the middle to aim for a championship this year. For others, if the Cubs don’t get Suarez, the top pitcher available, and every other rumored target, they will say Jed Hoyer failed the team.

All I want from my teams at trade deadlines is this: improve the team now and for the future. Be aware of the current opportunity. Make smart, calculated moves.

Now, if virtually nothing gets done this week, I’ll be up in arms with the rest of you. But our personal rankings of trade targets shouldn’t dictate how we perceive the front office’s intentions. Jed and Carter Hawkins want to win. They want to a build a sustained winner. They want to be aggressive when possible. I believe they understand how good this Cubs team really is.

It’s not a question of if they should go “all in” or not. If that was a real debate, I’m pretty sure every team with a winning record would trade away their entire farm system every single year at the deadline. Nobody gives up that much of the future for risky acquisitions with 60 games left. As Craig Counsell says…just solve for wins.

HITTING THE LINKS

Andy Martinez - How Cubs’ Matt Shaw used faith, stance change to embark on hot streak (Marquee Sports Network)

Gabby Hajduk - Back from Break: Bears players on how they spent summer vacation (chicagobears.com)

David Adler - This has been the secret to success for Cubs' trio of sluggers (MLB)

Jen McCaffrey - Jed Hoyer made hard trades in Cubs rebuild, praises ‘conviction’ of Craig Breslow’s Devers trade (The Athletic)

Chicago Blackhawks - Inside 2025 Development Camp (YouTube)

Jon Gruden - Mason West interview (YouTube)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

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Thanks for reading! Buckle your seatbelts - it’s trade deadline week!