The Cubs and White Sox meet for the second round of the City Series on Tuesday and Wednesday at Wrigley Field. The Cubs swept the earlier two-game series July 25-26 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
It’s another important series for the Cubs, who are 3 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central, while the Sox will try to play spoilers.
Every Monday throughout the season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Cubs and Sox.
Patrick Wisdom adjusts to new role
Patrick Wisdom is trying to make the most of what has become limited playing time for the Cubs.
Nick Madrigal’s return from the injured list and the trade-deadline acquisition of Jeimer Candelario has made Wisdom the odd man out. With his starts coming predominantly against left-handers, Wisdom was in the lineup at first base Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays’ Hyun Jin Ryu.
In the seventh, Wisdom took Blue Jays right-hander Jay Jackson deep for a two-run homer. It marked his the third consecutive 20-homer season.
“Helping the team is my biggest concern,” Wisdom said afterward. “And it’s why you play the game, honestly. So to be in the (playoff) mix, it’s fulfilling but also it’s a lot of fun.”
Sunday’s start was only Wisdom’s third since July 29. All three have been at first base — where he started 20 games between the 2021 and ’22 seasons — after Candelario’s addition.
“Just not searching, not trying to find something in the cage that’s going to work, and it’s just believing in my abilities and not losing sight of that,” Wisdom said of his approach to irregular playing time. “You’ve got to keep motivating yourself from the inside and know that when your time comes that you’re going to be ready … when they tell you: ’Hey, you’re going in.’”
Wisdom was part of two tough plays at first in Sunday’s 11-4 loss. He couldn’t cleanly handle a sinking liner by Cavan Biggio in the second and was unable to corral a throw from Nico Hoerner up the middle that was ruled an error on the second baseman.
Wisdom said the biggest challenge of switching sides on the diamond is understanding how the ball will move off the bat. Biggio’s ball had so much topspin on it that Wisdom said he tried to “tackle the ball.”
“I try to get as many reps as I can over there to get your eyes used to it,” Wisdom said. “A couple of miscues today, but it’s the nature of it. So you just move on and you understand what you did wrong and fix it.”
Learning continues for Oscar Colás
Oscar Colás delivered the big hit for the White Sox during a three-run second against the New York Yankees on Wednesday, connecting for a two-run homer in a 9-2 Sox win.
Friday against the Brewers, he made a pair of what manager Pedro Grifol called “mental” mistakes while trying to throw out Carlos Santana at third base in the fifth. After fielding Sal Frelick’s single and seeing Santana trying to go from first to third, his throw from right field was not in time and allowed the trail runner to move to second.
Willy Adames followed with a two-run single, and the Sox lost 7-6 in 10 innings.
“The first mental mistake was not thinking that Santana was going to go to third base,” Grifol said Friday. “I think he got caught off guard on that. One mental mistake led to another. When he saw him go first to third, now he tried to make a great throw which was off line and he allowed the runner to advance.”
That’s part of the ups and downs for the rookie.
After Wednesday’s game, Colás said he continues to learn both at the plate and in right field.
“I’ve been doing work with Pedro and the staff (on defense),” he said through an interpreter. “On the opposite side, just trying to be more consistent with the zone I want the pitch to be and where I want to hit the ball and then all around it’s a work in progress.
“I’m learning every day and trying to do the adjustments I need for that.”
Colás is slashing .215/.259/.291 with three home runs and 13 RBIs in 54 games.
“You’ll see spurts of plate discipline and good fundamental baseball and you’ll see spurts of chasing and not that good of fundamental baseball,” Grifol said Saturday. “That’s just part of the development process that we’re going through with him. We’re throwing a lot at him and he’s embracing it and he’s working on it.”
Colás is confident more power is on the way.
“I know sooner rather than later the results and power are going to show up,” he said.
What we’re reading this morning
Week ahead: Cubs
The Cubs have a chance this week, with two days off, to realign the rotation and give a taxed bullpen needed recovery days.
The Cubs will start Kyle Hendricks in Tuesday’s series opener against the White Sox while Wednesday’s starter is to be determined. However, the expectation is Marcus Stroman (right hip inflammation) will come off the 15-day injured list to make that start.
Left-hander Drew Smyly made his first relief appearance as a Cub in a non-opener situation during Sunday’s loss to the Blue Jays. It was his first such outing since Oct. 2, 2021, when he pitched for the Atlanta Braves.
Smyly didn’t allow a run in one inning, giving up a single and a walk. His move to the bullpen wasn’t seen as permanent, though the Cubs hope it helps his stuff play up and gets him to be more aggressive in the zone.
The Cubs could have additional relief options in the coming weeks. Veteran right-hander Brad Boxberger (right forearm strain) will pitch in an Arizona Complex League game Monday, while right-hander Nick Burdi (appendectomy) is joining Triple-A Iowa on a rehab assignment.
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: vs. White Sox, 7:05 p.m., Marquee
- Wednesday: vs. White Sox, 7:05 p.m., Marquee
- Thursday: off
- Friday: vs. Royals, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Saturday: vs. Royals, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Sunday: vs. Royals, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
Week ahead: White Sox
Reliever Lane Ramsey has been in a competitive mindset while warming up.
“I think that’s helped and carried over,” Ramsey told the Tribune on Sunday. “Going out there with the mindset of attacking each hitter and giving him my best stuff.”
It has shown in the results. Ramsey has allowed one run on two hits in three games since being called up from Triple-A Charlotte on Aug. 5. He has three strikeouts and one walk in 4 1/3 innings.
Ramsey pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in his debut Aug. 6 against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field.
“I couldn’t even feel my body,” he said. “It was a different experience than I’ve ever felt, as far as running out there and everything. Once the game started and the first pitch was a groundout (by Gabriel Arias), it was like, ‘All right, we’re here. Now it’s just baseball. Now it’s just pitching.’”
Grifol said of the 6-foot-9 right-hander: “The ball gets on you a little bit. He’s throwing strikes with his fastball, he’s throwing strikes with his slider. He’s done a really good job.”
Grifol said the next step for Ramsey and Declan Cronin, who was called up July 28, is “throwing them into a little bit of crisis.”
“Right now, for the most part, they’ve come in in clean innings, but they’re going to graduate here pretty soon,” Grifol said. “We’ve got to find out about all these guys this year so we can go into next season and not have to evaluate (in the) spring.”
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: at Cubs, 7:05 p.m., NBCSCH
- Wednesday: at Cubs, 7:05 p.m., NBCSCH
- Thursday: off
- Friday: at Rockies, 7:40 p.m., NBCSCH
- Saturday: at Rockies, 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Sunday: at Rockies, 2:10 p.m., NBCSCH
This week in Chicago baseball
Aug. 14, 1939: First night game for the White Sox
River Forest native Johnny Rigney — who had a no-hitter through five innings — threw a three-hitter in a 5-2 victory against the St. Louis Browns and struck out 10 in front of an estimated 30,000 fans at Comiskey Park.
Aug. 15, 1945: Cubs rout the Brooklyn Dodgers 20-6 at Ebbets Field
Paul Gillespie knocked in six runs with two home runs and a single to lead the attack.
Aug. 17, 2018: Cubs tie a major-league record by turning seven double plays
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Cubs were just the third team to turn seven double plays in a nine-inning game.
Starter Cole Hamels induced a double play in each of the first three innings against the Pirates in a 1-0 win.
The Cubs needed a game-ending double play induced by reliever Jesse Chavez and fielded by rookie third baseman David Bote with the tying and winning runs on base.
Aug. 20, 2014: Cubs win “tarp game” vs. Giants
Head groundskeeper Roger Baird and the Cubs grounds crew had been tossed under the bus two nights earlier after the tarp debacle, in which they couldn’t get an already soaked Wrigley Field infield covered in time to prevent it from turning into swampland.
Giants announcer Mike Krukow claimed they intentionally botched the tarp deployment to ensure a Cubs victory before eventually retracting his remarks. ESPN’s Keith Olbermann included them on his daily list of “worst persons” in the sports world.
And Major League Baseball cited the Cubs for “failure to properly wrap and spool the tarp after its last use” in its press release announcing the decision to uphold the Giants’ protest, which led to the resumption of the game.
Naturally, another round of showers delayed the resumption, officially turning it into a 6-hour, 31-minute rain delay. Taking no chances, the Cubs employed 32 grounds crew members to pull the tarp for the Thursday game, about twice as many as Tuesday night.
Fans gave them a mock ovation when they rolled the tarp onto the field in the late afternoon, and everyone laughed.
“We watched the radar loop,” said umpire Hunter Wendelstedt, a notorious White Sox fan. “Mother Nature was not raining, according to the radar. No one had any facts that saw this coming. Then it was just a bad set of unfortunate things.”
Baird was unavailable for comment. The Cubs asked the grounds crew not to speak to the media, deferring to spokesman Julian Green.
“There should be no thought or any question these guys fumbled the ball,” Green said. “They step up to the plate and do this with a guy who’s led our crew for decades. Even after (Tuesday night’s) game, I would put my money on Roger Baird every time.”
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