GOOD MORNING, CHICAGO FANS

I hope you all had a great weekend! Winning baseball at Wrigley Field and 85 degree weather at home is an unmatched combination to kickstart the summer. A good Cubs team gives us SO much hope for the future of Chicago sports.

New eras are fun to watch, and the Blackhawks just introduced their new coach to the media:

CHICAGO CUBS

W - Cubs 3, Rockies 1

Jamo the stopper!

• Jameson Taillon was fired up on the mound during his dominant start (6.1 IP, 1 ER, 7 K)

• Kyle Tucker had 2 RBI as the Cubs only collected 4 hits at windy Wrigley Field

• Daniel Palencia made quick work of the Rockies in the 9th with 100 mph heat!

W - Cubs 4, Rockies 3 (F/11)

Matt Shaw has arrived! Another Wrigley walk-off!

• Shaw’s opposite field single won the game as the Cubs scored 2 runs in the 11th

• Cade Horton made it into the 7th in his best start as a pro (6 IP, 2 ER, 6 K)

• Small ball night: Cubs stole 6 bases to tie their season high, and Reese McGuire threw out 2 base stealers

W - Cubs 2, Rockies 1

A small ball sweep!

• Pete Crow-Armstrong’s solo HR in the 4th inning was the difference in another pitchers’ duel

• Matthew Boyd was filthy (6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K)

• Palencia was throwing HEAT to lock down another save

L - Reds 6, Cubs 2

No Rea of sunshine

• Andrew Abbott threw a gem (7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K) for his 2nd straight win against the Cubs

• Colin Rea got beat up - allowed 3 HR, 10 H, and 6 ER in 5.2 IP

W - Cubs 2, Reds 0

Eeked out a W for the pitching staff

• Craig Counsell opted for an opener in front of Ben Brown, and it worked to perfection - Drew Pomeranz tossed a 1-2-3 1st inning, and Brown had his best outing of the season (6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K)

• Cubs scored 2 runs in the 8th: a sun-aided popup was misplayed, and Dansby Swanson beat out a routine grounder to SS

• 2-for-13 day with RISP extended the offense’s struggles

W- Cubs 7, Reds 3

Busch’s league!

• Michael Busch led the Cubs offense with a 2-R HR and 3 total RBI

• Taillon had another great start (6.1 IP, 2 ER)

• Nico Hoerner is SO clutch in key spots - 3-for-4 on the day with 2 RBI

Star of the Week ⭐ Jameson Taillon

2 Ws, 2 quality starts, 12.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K

Play of the Week 🎥 Matt Shaw walk-off single

Seiya Suzuki was named the NL Player of the Week for last week! He also became the first player in MLB to reach 50 RBI this season with Tuesday’s single against the Rockies!

PCA reached 15/15 (now at 15 HR and 19 SB) on May 28th!!

Miguel Amaya will miss 4-6 weeks due to his oblique strain, DFA’d RHP Brooks Kriske

Signed LHP Genesis Cabrera to a major league contract. I feel like this will work out because signing former Mets relievers mid-season seems like a good idea…Jorge Lopez was elite last season!

Cubs swept the worst team in baseball, the Rockies, by scoring only 9 runs and collecting 20 hits in the 3 games. The pitching staff only allowed 3 ER and 5 BB and struck out 28 hitters! It was a tough week for hitters in the windy conditions…

Bullpen had an MLB-best 2.37 ERA in May 😮 On the season, Drew Pomeranz and Chris Flexen have given up 0 ER in a combined 28 IP, new closer Daniel Palencia has a 1.74 ERA, Brad Keller has a 2.22 ERA, and Caleb Thielbar has a 2.29 ERA!

Cubs are the 3rd team in the live-ball era to have multiple players (Seiya Suzuki, PCA) with 50+ RBI before June, per OptaSTATS. The 2001 Rockies (Larry Walker, Todd Helton) and 2003 Blue Jays (Carlos Delgado, Vernon Wells) were the other teams.

The streak officially ended: they were 9-0 in series openers at Wrigley Field this season until Friday’s loss vs. the Reds.

NL Central Standings

Cubs 37-22

Cardinals 33-26 (4.0 GB)

Brewers 32-28 (5.5 GB), 7-game winning streak

SCHEDULE 📅 T/W/TH/F/SAT/SUN

CHICAGO BEARS

OFFSEASON

OTAs continued!

• Ozzy Trapilo and Kiran Amegadjie will rotate reps with the 1st team at LT

• Case Keenum and Tyson Bagent will compete for the QB2 role

The Bears are reportedly working with Caleb Williams on his footwork, pre-snap operation, and body language

Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah signed a contract extension. Him and Ryan Poles were candidates for both open GM jobs in 2022, so it will be fascinating to see what they each accomplish during their tenures. Adofo-Mensah has been very successful since taking over, but he also inherited a much better roster.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

OFFSEASON

Hired Mike Vellucci as an assistant coach. He was most recently an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins and adds another AHL Calder Cup to the coaching staff. As a former defenseman like Anders Sorensen and a Michigan native like Jeff Blashill, he rounds out the coaching staff very well.

Jeff Blashill was well-spoken in his introductory press conference:

• He came off as extremely confident and direct. After years of first-time head coaches and a team without an identity, hearing a coach who believes in his abilities was refreshing.

• Experience under Mike Babcock and Jon Cooper have led Blashill to “know” how to build a championship caliber team. He has a plan to lay a foundation and fix the culture in Chicago.

• He knows Connor Bedard is a superstar and will take the next step in his development because of his personal drive

• He believes the Hawks have potential superstars at every position, and the team’s speed will be a huge strength moving forward

• His first remarks were extremely clear: he wanted this job. There has been so much negativity surrounding the Hawks over the last few years, but Blashill verbalized to the fanbase and his players that this is a great situation to step into.

Hired Jared Nightingale as the head coach of the Rockford IceHogs. He was an assistant with Rockford from 2021 to 2024 and recently served as the head coach for South Carolina in the ECHL (and went 52-15-5!!!) His long playing career as a defenseman included many jumps between the AHL and ECHL. Another big part of this move? Assistant GM Mark Eaton will return to his normal front office role instead of coaching the AHL team…

Jonathan Toews is reportedly 100% committed to an NHL return next season. It’s going to be SO strange seeing both Kane and Toews in other sweaters.

Beloved goalie coach Jimmy Waite will remain with the Hawks 💪

Prospect Nick Lardis was named to the OHL First All-Star Team after his crazy 71 goal season

CHICAGO BULLS

OFFSEASON

Rumors are out there regarding the Bulls’ 1st round draft pick:

• Derik Queen (Maryland center) has been mentioned as a solid option for the Bulls, if available, since they would like to add young players to their frontcourt.

• Drake Powell (UNC guard) is potentially rocketing up draft boards and had a good meeting with the Bulls.

• Guards are on the table even though the roster is FULL of them. We really need to see more trades this offseason from AK…

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Ben Brown

After allowing 14 runs in his last 2 starts, Brown and the Cubs coaching staff were looking for answers. Avoiding the 1st inning turned out to be the trick heading into Saturday’s game vs. the Reds. He had given up 11 ER in 10 1st innings (9.90 ER) and was struggling with the mental effects of being in a hole early on in starts.

Brown welcomed any input from the staff and ended up dominating after Pomeranz opened the game for him. Read more here:

MILD TAKE

Craig Counsell has won a ton of games for the Cubs this year.

Counsell’s $40M paycheck was the punchline of too many jokes after last season’s 83-win disappointment. I mean, who pays for a top manager and refuses to pay free agents? The manager must not have been the issue if they won the same amount of games as 2023, right?

We heard a LOT of talk this past offseason about Counsell’s impact on the organization being long-term. One year was not enough. 2024 should have been viewed as his introduction to the team. He found his desk in the analytics department, got used to the beautiful sights at Wrigley Field, and…started scheming.

After 2 months in Year 2 of Counsell’s tenure, I believe them.

With new coaches in place and other behind the scenes changes made, this year’s team looks vastly different. The Cubs are playing fundamental baseball again, and it’s a fun style of play we haven’t seen since maybe 2017.

The defense has been top notch around the diamond. Soft contact no longer kills the pitching staff because of the talent around them. But most importantly, the baserunning has been impressive. The Cubs have been running over every opponent and are 3rd in MLB with 76 stolen bases. They take the extra base at every opportunity and rarely find themselves caught in a rundown due to a bone-headed mental mistake.

The makeshift bullpen has been the best in the league lately, and the mix-and-match task without a solidified closer or group of reliable setup men has been a magic act. And how many times has the usage of Justin Turner, Vidal Brujan, Jon Berti, Carson Kelly, and others in the last couple innings of the game worked out perfectly? The 3B position before Matt Shaw returned was a ghost town for production, but he always cobbled together a worthwhile plan when the game mattered.

It turns out paying a manager big money was a good decision.

HITTING THE LINKS

Kevin Fishbain - What Chicago Bears are getting in DE Dayo Odeyingbo: ‘This dude wants to be remembered’ (The Athletic)

Chris Lomon - Nazar’s elite potential on display with Team USA (NHLPA)

Scott Powers - ‘Blackhawks hit a home run’: Why Jon Cooper thinks Jeff Blashill will succeed in Chicago (The Athletic)

Chicago Bears - Inside the Bears’ 2025 Draft | 1920 Football Drive (YouTube)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it to a friend! If you are the friend, you can subscribe here:

Thanks for reading! As always, reply with any Monday thoughts you may have! Turns out the Cubs have the power and the speed…to be the best in the National League (for now).