Chicago Cubs Covering the Bases: Possible draft picks, ranking the Wrigleyville unis (2024)

“We’ve played the same game, pretty much, for over a month now,” Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “We’re generally plus-one, even, minus-one going into the late innings. And that’s a really hard way to live.” The lack of offense is putting pressure on the entire organization. This Cubs briefing explains the situation with thoughts from The Athletic’s national reporters and columnists on Chicago’s path forward.

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Power rankings: Chicago Cubs are No. 20

In this week’s power rankings, we identified an unsung hero for each team. (Record as of Tuesday.)

Record: 34-39
Last Power Ranking: 19

Unsung hero: 1B Michael Busch

The price you pay for having a scorching first month with your new team is that it sets expectations. Busch had an OPS over .900 when he woke up on April 27. His OPS dropped 153 points over the next month. Oof.

The Cubs are trending in the wrong direction, but Busch is back on track. He’s batting .333/.458/.462 since May 27. Swing-and-miss will always be an issue for Busch, but he’s doing his part with his on-base skills and pull power to push runs across for this disappointing Cubs lineup. — Stephen J. Nesbitt

The latest hits

ICYMI, our national writers weighed in with what they are hearing and seeing

Keith Law’s MLB Mock Draft 2.0

The MLB Draft Combine is taking place now in Arizona. That means there’s more information out there on what certain teams might be planning and which players they favor, although much still depends on players’ medicals and signing bonus expectations.

14. Chicago Cubs: Malcolm Moore, C, Stanford

This connection keeps coming up, as the Cubs do lean heavily on their model, and Moore has excellent batted-ball data. I’ve also heard them with Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore and Kentucky outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt.

What Jim Bowden is hearing

Our resident former GM Jim Bowden weighed in on trade targets for each contender and deadline priorities for all 30 teams.

Chicago Cubs

Position targets: Catcher, bullpen depth, impact bat

C: Elias Díaz, MJ Melendez, Connor Wong, Shea Langeliers, Danny Jansen

RP: T.J. McFarland, Michael Kelly, Steven Wilson, Michael Kopech, Garrett Cleavinger, Calvin Faucher, Victor Vodnik

Impact bat: Pete Alonso, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

The Cubs have had almost no offensive production from their catchers as Miguel Amaya has hit .191 with two home runs and Yan Gomes .153 with two homers before he was DFA’d. They also need to improve their bullpen depth. While seeking to fill those two needs, they also have shown interest in acquiring an impact corner bat.

MLB City Connect: All 29 uniforms ranked, from the so-so to the sublime

Meh reviews of the Wrigleyville alternates.

23. Cubs

Tyler Kepner: I like how the “Wrigleyville” lettering mimics the famous marquee outside the ballpark. But those dark pants — ugh! They should ditch them for white pants with a stripe of green Wrigley ivy crawling up the side.

Trent Rosecrans: I lump this one with the White Sox because they both look more like bad souvenir stand jerseys than actual uniforms. The use of the star from the Chicago flag inside the C on the cap is solid, but that can’t make up for the rest.

Stephen J. Nesbitt: For such a storied franchise, in an iconic stadium and a colorful city, this is remarkably unspectacular. If I were a Cubs fan going to a game and they were wearing this boring all-blue (yet not Cubbie blue) uni, I’d be bummed.

Jason Jones: It’s not bad. It’s also not spectacular. I don’t hate it. But it doesn’t do much for me.

Moment of silence

The death of Willie Mays at the age of 93 loomed over Tuesday night’s Cubs-Giants game at Wrigley Field.

The @Cubs held a moment of silence at Wrigley Field for the passing of Willie Mays. pic.twitter.com/tlYm6sAARl

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) June 19, 2024

Baseball beat

Our beat writers Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney picked out what you need to know

Six prospects who could help this year

Here are four relievers and two hitters who could help the team and have yet to be seen this year at the big-league level.

Really, Héctor Neris is still your closer?

The likely point that manager Craig Counsell is trying to make is that his bullpen options are limited.

Did you catch this?

A portrait of Kyle Schwarber, the Phillies’ everyman slugger with an empathetic spirit, from The Athletic’s Matt Gelb:

Two times last week, an opposing manager came to see Schwarber. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, an old Cubs coach, cornered Schwarber for almost 15 minutes behind home plate at Camden Yards. Alex Cora walked across the grass at Fenway Park and sat on a ledge with Schwarber.

Cora reminisced about his introduction to Schwarber when the Red Sox acquired him at the 2021 trade deadline. There was a pregame hitters’ meeting in which coaches went over the opposing pitcher’s arsenal and tendencies. They asked if anyone else had anything to say.

“Bro, this guy stinks,” Schwarber said on his first day with his new team. “Let’s go kick their ass.”

“We’re like,” Cora said, “‘Oh s—.’”

Photo of the week

Welcome to Chicago.

what have i signed up for pic.twitter.com/4cWwei5aCX

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) June 14, 2024

(Top photo of Hector Neris: Mike Carlson / Getty Images)