The City Series returns with Round 2 beginning Friday at Rate Field. The Cubs swept the three-game series May 16-18 at Wrigley Field, outscoring the Sox 26-8.
This round arrives as the July 31 trade deadline nears. The Cubs are in a position to buy while the Sox will be looking to sell.A
Every Thursday during the regular season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Cubs and White Sox.
As much as a player goes through the mental pre-pitch preparation on defense, there are moments when instincts take over.
Or, as Swanson put it, backyard baseball kicks in.
The Cubs shortstop made a nifty double play in Tuesday’s win against the Kansas City Royals to help starter Matthew Boyd escape a tough spot. In the fifth inning with one out and the bases loaded as the Cubs led 2-0, Kyle Isbel lined a ball up the middle that Swanson snagged, then made a diving tag on the runner at second base, Freddy Fermin. Initially called safe, the inning ended when the replay review overturned the call and ruled Swanson successfully turned the unassisted double play.
“Defense is always such a big part of this game and can bail you out in such big moments,” Swanson said. “And for Boyd to be able to maintain his composure and continue making good pitches in that moment, you’re always thinking of situations beforehand and prepared for anything that could happen, and instincts take over after that.”
Swanson’s stellar defense again this season is part of a collectively strong defense. The Cubs’ 50 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) rank third in the majors, while they are fourth in Outs Above Average (OAA) with 19 and second in Defense (Def) at 22.8.
Cubs pitchers know their defense is an asset, and that being aggressive in the zone and potentially allowing more balls in play can be to their benefit.
“He was so good out there that, man, that play was huge at that point of the game, and it could have been a tipping point,” Boyd said of Swanson. “And he continues to make great plays when the game is on the line. And this is why he is who he is, right? He’s kind of the heartbeat with this ball club, and it’s pretty cool to see him do those things.”
Josh Barfield keeping tabs on progress and adjustments
The Sox played their 100th game of the season Sunday. With 59 remaining, Barfield wants to continue to see how players are progressing.
“We have a lot of young guys on this team and you see the ups and downs of young guys,” the Sox assistant general manager said Saturday in Pittsburgh. “You want to see them make adjustments, continue to play with energy, play hard.
“We’ve been in a lot of games, finding ways to close more of these games, whether that’s the offense continuing to pile on or the pitching coming in and shutting down, I think those are things we look at actively. We have a lot of guys that, while this year is really important and we need to finish it as strong as we can, we’ve got guys who are shooting for next year as well.”
The list of young players includes shortstop/third baseman Colson Montgomery, who is hitting .275 in 16 games since his call-up early this month.
“He’s done a really good job of slowing the game down,” Barfield said. “Some guys, when they get to the big leagues they just feel like they belong here. I’ve talked to a lot of guys that have come up here for the first time. A lot of good players. They felt like, ‘When I was in the minor leagues, I was grinding, but when I got up to the big leagues this is where I belonged,’ and they run from there.
“So far, it looks like that from our vantage point. From Day 1, it’s never sped up on him, he’s had really good at-bats, he’s not trying to do too much. Just a calmness about him, which is encouraging because early in the season I think he was trying to press and prove to everybody that he was ready to come up here. Now, he’s starting to settle in.”
Montgomery hit his first major-league home run in Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. He followed with a three-run shot and five RBIs on Wednesday in an 11-9 Sox win.
“You just have to keep a level head and stay neutral with a lot of things,” Montgomery said Tuesday in Tampa, Fla., of some of his early lessons learned. “And I felt like my coaches and my teammates and some of the veteran guys have helped me with sometimes you’re just not going to get pitches to hit tonight and sometimes you are. And you’ve just got to be ready for those opportunities and if you’re not seeing the ball well, you’ve just got to be ready for the situational hitting. And everybody here’s been doing that.”
Number of the week: 35
The Sox scored 35 runs in their first four games after the All-Star break, matching the 2000 club for second-most in franchise history. The 1977 Sox scored 37 runs in their first four games coming out of the break.
Week ahead: Cubs
Justin Turner has never been much of a threat to steal bases, especially now at 40 years old.
But in the third inning Wednesday, Turner’s steal of third base off Royals 45-year-old lefty Rich Hill is the first instance of a 40-plus-year-old runner stealing a base off of a 40-plus-year-old pitcher since Craig Biggio did it against David Wells on July 26, 2007, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
“I’ve never seen him move that fast,” shortstop Dansby Swanson joked after the game.
Turner’s swipe was one of seven steals the Cubs recorded in Wednesday’s win. Only one other team — the Milwaukee Brewers on April 20 versus the Athletics (nine) — has stolen seven bases in a game this season. It marked just the second time the Cubs have had seven or more steals in a game since 1924. The other time: Last season, when the Cubs stole eight bases on Aug. 26 in Pittsburgh in an 18-8 win in which they had 21 hits (12 singles) and seven walks.
The Cubs lead the National League in stolen bases with 118, trailing the Tampa Bay Rays (133) for the major-league lead. Their 118 stolen bases through 101 games are the Cubs’ most since 1985, when they recorded 120 steals.
Three Cubs rank in the top 10 in stolen bases in the NL: No. 2 Pete Crow-Armstrong (28 steals), No. 6 Kyle Tucker (23) and No. 9 Nico Hoerner (19).
Week ahead: White Sox
Chase Meidroth doubled in the first inning Monday against the Rays. He singled and scored in the third. The infielder doubled again leading off the seventh and collected his third double with one out in the ninth.
Meidroth had a career-high four hits in the 8-3 victory.
“Hit balls hard over the plate,” Meidroth said on Monday about the key to success. “That always goes back to the approach and swinging at good pitches. Trusting myself, trusting the guys behind me. I think over the course of 162 games, if we all believe in each other, it’s going to have a lot of success for all of us.”
The rookie’s average had dipped to .238 before a two-hit outing Sunday in Pittsburgh. He followed that with the four hits Monday, an RBI single Tuesday and another run-scoring single Wednesday, raising the average to .250.
“It was a good (All-Star) break,” Meidroth said. “But I was itching the entire time to get back here and finish out these last few games on a strong note.”
“For him to just show up every day with the professionalism he does, with the work ethic that he has, the ability to talk to anybody and everybody, to help bring young guys along, to help keep some of the veteran guys, continuing to make them as good as they can be, he just means a lot to this clubhouse. And I think that’s something that people probably don’t see all that often.” — Swanson on Boyd.