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The Chicago Cubs and White Sox have started the season with plenty of drama, some of it unwanted.
Cubs manager David Ross fended off Twitter critics after a questionable move in a loss in Cincinnati, while Sox manager Pedro Grifol dealt with pitching woes in a historically bad start by his staff.
There’s a long way to go, but things are already off to an interesting start for both teams.
Every week throughout the season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened and what’s ahead for the Cubs and Sox.
Everyone has a gimmick these days for celebrating a home run hitter’s return to the dugout.
The Milwaukee Brewers crown their guy with a cheesehead, and the Cincinnati Reds have a Viking theme. As former Cubs President Theo Epstein often said, it’s a copycat league.
So what will be the Cubs’ home run celebration shtick? Or will this be a shtick-free season?
“It has to be organic,” outfielder Ian Happ said Saturday.
Happ still has the microphone in his locker from the days of fake interviewing home run hitters in the dugout. There was no sign of the waffle maker from the 2018 home run celebrations.
Happ wasn’t even sure this veteran-filled clubhouse would adopt a home run celebration, even at the risk of not going viral on Instagram. This is not the 2018 Cubs.
The veterans brought in by President Jed Hoyer don’t tend to call attention to themselves. And Cody Bellinger famously dislocated his right shoulder celebrating a home run for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the 2020 National League Championship Series and underwent surgery after the World Series.
Maybe the best home run gimmick in 2023 would be an old-school approach: no gimmick at all.
It’s never a good sign when a position player is on the mound.
That was the case twice in three games for the Sox when Hanser Alberto pitched the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Guaranteed Rate Field. The Sox lost 12-3 on April 3 and 16-6 on Thursday.
Entering Sunday’s series finale in Pittsburgh, Sox pitchers owned the highest ERA in baseball at 7.38. They had allowed 49 runs in the previous five games. By comparison, the Sox had a 3.24 ERA over the first nine games of 2022.
Sox relievers had allowed 33 runs, the most in the majors and the most by a Sox bullpen in the first nine games since 1995 (35).
Grifol saw the positives of Saturday’s 11-5 victory against the Pirates, in which the relievers allowed one run on two hits with five strikeouts in the last 3⅔ innings.
“They showed what they’re capable of,” Grifol said. “Getting two strikes out of the first three pitches we throw is really important. It economizes pitches, it keeps you ahead in the count. If you win that battle, you’re probably going to have a good chance of winning the game.”
Sox starters had a combined 6.35 ERA entering Sunday, ranking 25th in the majors.
“I like our starting pitching,” Grifol said. “These guys have done it, they’re going to do it again. It’s just one of those stretches, that’s all. Everybody goes through it at one time or another during the year. We just happen to go through it right now.”
Starter Mike Clevinger kept the small sample size in perspective.
“It’s two starts in,” Clevinger said Saturday. “You saw what we did in Houston against a pretty solid lineup there.”
Sox starters had a 2.05 ERA in four games against the Astros.
“It’s a Beautiful Day for a Ballgame,” performed in 1960 by the Harry Simeone Songsters, is the kind of nostalgic ode to baseball’s past that gets played on stadium sound systems across the country. Wrigley Field is one such place, and the song was played before Cubs games on WGN-AM for many years.
But if the version played by the Cubs before home games in 2023 sounds a little different, that’s because it is. The lyric that begins, “It’s a beautiful day for the ladies, so throw all your dishes away,” has been edited to remove the line “so throw all your dishes away.”
Someone in the Cubs hierarchy apparently disapproved of the gender stereotype. Men are fully capable of washing dishes too.
After their 8-2 loss to the Texas Rangers on Sunday, the Cubs take on another AL West team in the Seattle Mariners on Monday through Wednesday at Wrigley Field.
The Mariners had a brilliant idea for their rebuild in 2019, referring to it as a “reimagining.” If only Hoyer had thought of that.
Now the talent-rich Mariners, under former Cubs catcher Scott Servais’ leadership, are considered fully reimagined, built around a budding superstar in Julio Ramirez. Marcus Stroman takes his consecutive scoreless innings streak into Wednesday’s matchup against Logan Gilbert.
Ex-Cub Jason Heyward, who had three home runs and a 1.000 slugging percentage with the Dodgers entering Sunday, faces his old team Friday through Sunday at Dodger Stadium. Bellinger’s return to L.A. will be widely celebrated in Dodgertown.
- Monday: vs. Mariners, 6:40 p.m., Marquee
- Tuesday: vs. Mariners, 6:40 p.m., Marquee
- Wednesday: vs. Mariners, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Thursday: off
- Friday: at Dodgers, 9:10 p.m., Marquee
- Saturday: at Dodgers, 8:10 p.m., Marquee
- Sunday: at Dodgers, 3:10 p.m., Marquee
Upcoming series against the Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles should feature top-notch defense in center field.
Byron Buxton won a Gold Glove with the Twins in 2017 and was a finalist for the award in 2020. He has been a designated hitter early this season, looking to keep him healthy and in the lineup. No problem, 2021 Gold Glove winner Michael A. Taylor has been in center.
Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins was a Gold Glove finalist last season.
Sox center fielder Luis Robert won a Gold Glove in 2020 and ranks first in the majors in defensive runs above average at the position (2.2).
“He’s been unbelievable to watch on both sides of the ball,” Grifol said Sunday. “Obviously (Robert) patrols center field like none other. He’s got to be one of the top center fielders in the game. And (Andrew Benintendi) has won a Gold Glove in left field (in 2021). (Oscar) Colás is solid in right.
“Both those guys, (Benintendi) and Colás, can fill in in center field for a short period of time. Obviously there’s not many (like) Luis Robert running around in center field, but it’s nice to have two guys in the corners that can fill in at center field as well.”
- Monday: at Twins, 1:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Tuesday: at Twins, 6:40 p.m., NBCSCH
- Wednesday: at Twins, 12:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Thursday: off
- Friday: vs. Orioles, 6:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Saturday: vs. Orioles, 1:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Sunday: vs. Orioles, 1:10 p.m., NBCSCH
April 14, 2021: Carlos Rodón throws no-hitter in White Sox win
Carlos Rodón threw the 20th no-hitter in White Sox history, striking out seven in an 8-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians in front of 7,148 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
He was perfect through 8⅓ innings before hitting Roberto Pérez with a pitch. He then got the last two outs for the second Sox no-hitter in eight months. Lucas Giolito no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates on Aug. 25, 2020.
“It’s a pretty special moment,” Rodón said.
April 16, 1948: WGN-TV broadcasts first MLB game
Just eight days after signing on the air for the first time, WGN-9 broadcast its first Cubs game, an exhibition with the White Sox.
The Cubs had made their local TV debut two years earlier with WBKB’s broadcast of a 4-3 loss to the Dodgers on July 13, 1946.
WBKB actually had planned to televise the season opener three months before that but was thwarted by technical difficulties.
With WGN’s entry into baseball coverage came a commitment to carry every possible Cubs home game, which was just fine with team owner P.K. Wrigley. WGN took on the Sox home games too.
“I may have my reasons for doing things that may not align with others, but those are my reasons and the good thing about being the manager is I get to make those decisions.” — Cubs manager David Ross on criticism
