Memorial Day has arrived, marking the unofficial start to summer. It’s also near the two-month point on the baseball calendar. A few storylines of note today with around one-third of the regular season in the books:
1. Soroka’s first MLB appearance since 2020:
The Braves are going to recall right-hander Michael Soroka from Triple-A Gwinnett, manager Brian Snitker confirmed last night. He’ll get the start this evening in Oakland. It’s the culmination of a multi-year rehab process for the 2019 NL Rookie of the Year runner-up. Soroka pitched to a 2.68 ERA as a 21-year-old that season but saw his career waylaid by successive Achilles tears. He hasn’t thrown a major league pitch since 2020 and has made just three big league starts since his All-Star showing four years ago. Finally healthy, Soroka has logged a 4.33 ERA through eight starts in Gwinnett. Even if this proves a one-off spot start, it’s sure to be a rewarding moment for the former first-round pick after years of brutal injury luck.
Soroka will be opposed by A’s right-hander Paul Blackburn, who’s also making his first MLB appearance of the season. An All-Star in 2022, Blackburn has dealt with various injury concerns of his own over the past ten months. Fingernail and blister issues on his throwing hand cost him the first couple months of this season. Blackburn will try to halt an 11-game losing streak for the A’s, who have fallen to a staggering 10-45 on the year.
2. Twins’ roster move incoming:
The Twins are set to welcome back both Max Kepler and Royce Lewis from the injured list before their series opener in Houston. They’re reportedly optioning Matt Wallner and Kyle Garlick to Triple-A St. Paul to clear active roster space, though they’ll still need to clear a 40-man roster spot. Lewis hasn’t counted against the 40-man since being placed on the 60-day injured list at the start of Spring Training. Unless Minnesota anticipates two-plus month absences for someone like Nick Gordon or Jorge Alcalá — transferring either to the 60-day IL would officially rule them out past the All-Star Break — they’ll need to designate someone for assignment.
3. Can the Cubs stop their skid?
The Cubs were swept at home by the Reds over the weekend. They’ve lost four in a row and dropped to 22-30 overall. They’re now narrowly behind the Rockies and Nationals with the worst record in the National League. The NL Wild Card bubble is still wide open, so it’s too soon to hammer the nail in the coffin. Chicago clearly anticipated hanging around the playoff mix on the heels of an active offseason and a solid 11-6 start. They’ve dropped 17 of 25 games in May, though, and they’ll finish out the month with a three-game set against the 39-16 Rays. Marcus Stroman, who could be one of the trade deadline’s top rental starting pitchers if the Cubs don’t turn things around, gets the ball this afternoon. He’ll be opposed by Tampa Bay rookie righty Taj Bradley.
Welcome back Soroka!
So if the Cubs don’t turn things around THIS year, they will trade their top starter, rather than signing him to an extension. Yeah? Will that make them better NEXT year? They are beginning to come out of a rebuild. Its not like Stroman will be past his prime before they think they can contend. The only reason they will trade him is if they don’t get him to agree.to an extension before the deadline. It doesn’t matter if they continue to lose THIS year.
The Cubs are not coming out of their rebuild, regardless of what people think, without some major changes and additions and subtractions (Ross).
Even if PCA is promoted and does well, he isn’t giving you the offense Bellinger at least has so far. Cubs still need another top of the rotation arm to go with Steele, need another high leverage bullpen arm even if Heuer can be a closer/set up guy and a legitimate middle of the order bat. It’s a tall and expensive task in free agency/trade.
Justin Steele has been successful so far, but is he really a top of the rotation arm? Can he sustain his success working almost exclusively with only two pitches?
Yeah it’s only technically 2 pitches but he can make them do different things so it’s really not relevant. When he comes up with an off speed pitch he will be really dominant. Stroman isn’t going to make a difference for the future. He wants his last contract and a lot of years and at 31 he’s not going to get that here. as good as he’s been he really isn’t turning out wins. Not all his fault, But if he wants Ace money, Aces win with whatever they get.
@uncle
I also feel Stroman likely isn’t going to make a big difference for the future. Although I sure would like him to come back next year. But at this stage of his career, Stro is probably looking at his last chance for long term security.
Jordan Wicks and Ben Brown are knocking on the door and might make their MLB debuts later this year. And hopefully Wesneski will get things straightened out, as well. A Stroman extension isn’t a top priority.
Also I definitely don’t see Heuer as more than a 7/8th inning guy.
Dogbone- I don’t get what Wicks is still doing in AA. In fact I don’t get what is going on in AA at all. Moving Palencia up to AAA was a cry to see if he could be help to the bullpen this year which would also be a mistake. They should have left him in AA to do that. Brown should be the next starter up. Sanders, Horn and Little should be the next bullpen arms up and maybe Heuer if he’s ready. Rucker, Merryweather, Hughes need to go down, Or at least fix Hughes knee because he’s not the same guy. Estrada should be the closer. Even during Newman’s AB yesterday he didn’t look flustered or bothered at all. That’s a quality I’m looking for in a guy. Ross keeps bringing him in with guys on because he got out of one jam. He has the arm and mentality and Let’s face it, He can’t be any worse than anybody else they’ve tried. PCA is playing RF, Why? In fact he’s not even playing Full Time, again Why? Mystifying
I’d probably like to see Estrada be the closer for awhile, to see what happens. But . . . I’d like to see Estrada also get more movement on his FB, or a better breaking pitch. At this point, he’s still got some work to do.
Drascoo—100% agree with you on the Ross comment. Here is where he completely lost me–after the fast start where they running—Wisdom and Bellinger each had a hot streak and Ross, on TV, when asked why the stolen base numbers dipped…said, paraphrased, “we are hitting the ball out of the park so we don’t want to risk taking runners off base?” WHAT!!!???
This team lacks power, does not have a LEGIT 30 homer guy, let alone a threat to hit 40 and he CHOSE to get away from the recipe that made the Cubs successful the first 25-30 games of the season. And please do NOT get skewed by Morel—-he has absolutely NO defensive position that he is even remotely below average at.
Also went with Hosmer and Madrigal playing fair roles far too long.
I think the regression of guys like Assad, Thompson were somewhat predictable and the loss of Sampson was already known.
After going to the well successfully with guys like Chafin, Tepera, Robertson, Given, Weick, etc the past few years—the signings of Boxberger and Fulmer have been DISASTERS which have already led to putting like Merryweather, Estrada and Rucker into bad roles and they are close to losing their confidence with extreme overuse.
IF Bellinger is healthy (what’s going on?) they need to find a suitor now.
Ross is having a really bad year. I don’t know how many years he has left on his deal but it might be a good time to let Andy Green have an audition. The bullpen is a shambles and nobody has a defined role. It’s confusing me so I know it’s gotta be confusing the players. Heuer isn’t going to solve that, Even though he’s been much better lately. After not playing in over a year he got off to rough start understandably, But I hope they don’t rush him back or toss him right into the closer role. That might be bad. Not only that, I’m really trying to figure out what he’s doing with the line ups. I’m so confused.
@mike127
Many good points. I especially agree with your comments that the Cubs allowed Hosmer and Madrigal to play their roles too long. Although it’s hard to say if that was Ross or a Hoyer decision. I really believe that Mervis’s transition would’ve been easier for him, if he’d have been brought up while the team was having success- rather than when things were beginning to get tougher.
That said, I’d love to see the Cubs talk to the Rangers about Ezequiel Duran. The Cubs don’t have a sure fire answer going forward, for 3B. And I agree with many of you, that Morel doesn’t seem to have a position at this time.
If or when – the Cubs decide their fate for 2023, The Cubs would be able to help the Rangers out, with some combination of Stroman, Bellinger, Morel or Velazquez. Rangers are trying to win now. Duran could be available since the Rangers have so many IFers signed long term.
What cub fans have to realize is that, like Drasco said, they are not coming out of a rebuild. They added Bellinger, who is using the cubs to showcase his talents so a contending team will sign him. Swanson was a good pickup, and Steele and Stroman, for now, are a good top of the rotation. But cubs fans shouldn’t get too excited. the team is heading in the right direction, but they have a long way to go before they contend in the second worse division in bb. Typical of cub fans who seem to get overly optimistic at the slightest thing. The cubs have the worst record in bb, so hang in there with them and don’t, as some people deluded themselves, plan on going to the PO just yet.
And then Ross comes out with todays line up… skid stopper if I ever saw one.
Worst in the NL. The encouraging news is to get to the worst record in baseball they’d have to drop the next 13 straight, and OAK would have to win 13 straight. Idk about the former, but the latter def ain’t happening.
Maybe Ricketts hands Hoyer a blank check and we sign Ohtani, Urias, Hader and Chapman… then we would be “coming out of rebuild” but right now we have a bunch of “good” potential prospects but lack high end needle movers and that’s fine if we go out and sign those impact players.
Cubs potential trade candidates as of right now: Stroman, Smyly, Wisdom
Hendricks can be moved if he can regain some form. Fulmer and Boxberger if they can put together some decent outings.
I don’t think it would be wise to trade Gomes given we hold a team option over him and we need to develop out pitching but if someone wants to trade us an expired lottery ticket for Barnhart, I’d be all about it and bring up Amaya.
Barnhart could be released and it would have no affect on anything. You’re correct, it should be Amaya and Gomes going forward.
Then hopefully Aliendo is ready in 2025.
And Wisdom should have been included in my list of trade candidates. Although since Smyly apparently is happy and productive here and under contract for another season – I’d only consider trading Smyly IF it was necessary to close a deal on the exact player that could help the lineup win – in 2024. Probably a 3B man.
drascoo- Well now you know Ross isn’t getting fired anytime soon. A guy who is afraid for his job doesn’t put out crap like that.
Smyly won’t be traded. They just re-signed him for 2 years. Stroman wants to stay and wants an extension. They are reports that they are discussing an extension. Trading 2 of 5 starters would be dumb.
That actually makes him a MORE valuable trade chip.
You would think, with the loses and kissing streaks piling up, Ross would put the absolute best line up her can out there for a couple days.
The Cubs honestly are in this weird in-between, they are not that far from contending but they are also not all that close without tapping into high end free agents.
The team is full of “good” players. Stroman and Smyly are both good players but neither are an Ace. Steele has had a couple hiccups but generally is very solid, a two or three easy in most rotations (at least based on his last 25 or so starts). Talion isn’t going anywhere for a couple years so that’s two slots in the rotation. Cubs need an ace and they need to leave the fifth rotation slot open/rotating for dudes like Wesneski, Brown, Wicks, etc. who are all close, or in Wesneski’s case has been called up. That’s only one slot open, Stroman and Smyly both have very solid trade value and should be moved. Stroman certainly can be extended but the Cubs shouldn’t sign him for anything more than four years.
So after they sign Ohtani for $700m, they won’t have the money to sign Urias, Harder and Chapman (Matt or Aroldis). I know Ricketts said last year his wallet is open, signing Ohtani is unlikely for so many reasons, one of which is that he said he wants to stay on the west coast. I’m hoping Ichiro, who works for the Mariners, will convince him to go north.
I’m enjoying watching Taj Bradley pitch. Hopefully he’ll stay off the Rays boatload of injured pitchers!
Amazing though that with injuries to Springs, etc, that the Rays just keep winning. A blueprint of an organization.
If the Twins aren’t moving Gordon or Alcal to the 60 day who’s getting dropped from the 40? Garlick, Castro and DeLeon are probably top of the list
Minor edit, it’s Achilles tears not ACL tears.
Not sure I’d call that a minor edit. Pretty big difference.
drascoo36! you are 100% correct about what subtraction the Cubs need to make. Ross needs to go
They were Achilles injuries!
A team that was actually looking to win, a winnable division still, would be promoting a guy like Ben Brown already for ANY role but he can follow the Justin Steele path of 2021 and use him as a reliable arm in the bellpen while you acclimate him to the big leagues (what they should’ve done to Killian) and then let him settle in the back end of the bullpen.
Gotta bench Mancini more and let Mervis make his adjustments as he’s done every level. I mean he’s been facing some AAAA level relievers who have been ex-Cubs so it appears like this new confidence curse at Wrigley is impacting him too. Let Wisdom be the everyday player at 3B too.
Not sure firing Ross is the right decision yet but when you have internet managers making the right call time after time after time again, especially on Fulmer like blowing Taillons first probable win maybe it is time for Andy Green or even Willie Harris.
I give credit to Ross for hanging in there when the team got rid of all of their top players and have been a mess ever since. Also, what is AAAA?
Avenger- Common term for a player that does well in AAA and sucks in the Big Leagues. Tweener.
Maybe they should squeeze in another level and call it High-AAA.
They do! It’s been called the Pirates, White Sox, Tigers, Reds Royals, A’s, and Orioles! Unfortunately the Cubs have decided to join that league
Good point. Managers are probably just scapegoats. Cubs had a great bullpen the last few seasons with castoffs so was it really the coaches or the players executing or now lack there of?
AAAA are those who have all-star numbers in Iowa (look at Sergio Alcantara the last few years, or Rafael Ortega) but then come up to the bigs and have a good 2 weeks and then fall back down to terrible. They yo yo and down with different clubs for a while.
Aside from the bullpen problems, the Cubs have been filled with physical errors, mental errors, and nonchalance. The best and only move at this rate is to fire Ross. At the very least, it will be a wake up call for the players.
But Jed is best friends with Rossy. Ain’t gonna happen.
Cubs need to give Ben Brown an MLB start.
We’re barely out of May and you’re counting the Cuba out so embarrassing
Firing Ross brings up bad memories. In 2017 the White Sox started a five year rebuild. With Ricky Renteria as manager, they got to the PO in three. Then Reinsdorf decided Renteria wasn’t the right guy to take them to the next level even though he did. He fired Renteria and brought in his grandfather, LaRussa. Not only did TLR not take them to the next level, he totally demoralized the players to the point that they are now in a partial rebuild. Owners shouldn’t their nose where it doesn’t belong.
Soroka couldn’t ask for a better assignment for his first start in forever. If you can’t make some kinda magic against one of the worst teams in recent history who’ve dropped 11 in a row, it might be time to go ahead and work from home.
AMEN on his opponent tonight.!
UPDATE on Cubs ace: he just pitched a one hitter today! Just upped his value of contract and trade value. Stay tuned for more details at 10!
I’m beginning to wonder how good Jed Hoyer really is. For years, we never knew where Theo ended, and Jed began, but now I’m guessing he’s been riding his coattails all these years. Look at the 2 drafts Jed had with the Pads – not one single useful player. Meanwhile, this is a 200+ million roster? Unless Ricketts is willing to go past the tax threshold, I don’t see any other way this rebuild succeeds unless the young guys turn up and guys like Suzuki become run producers.
At least Heyward finally comes off the books after this season. But Taillon is so awful. Some bad luck, sure, but still, we have him for 3 more years! He also has to turn it around.
Finally, if they really want to win, I’d sign Stro to an extension. And still go out and sign a guy like Nola this offseason. Starting and relief pitching and a big bat or two? That is indeed a tall order, especially considering you lose both Stro and Belli after the season (or maybe at the deadline).
I’m pretty annoyed but I all honesty we need one true middle of the order bat, Happ, Suzuki, Swanson are three two hole hitters. Wisdom and Gomes are 7/8 guys and assuming PCA is the guy next year, he should most hit in the 9 hole. I’d love a TOR and a good high leverage guy… sad part is, had we went with Chafin vs Fulmer, we’d probably be in the thick of the central
I’m also disappointed but still watching and waiting. Every team in the division has gone on one good run except the Cubs. They will go on one and all the haters now will come back. Bandwagon jumpers for the Cubs are notorious. It looks like we’ll be going to the All Star break with this crew. Wondering if a deal for Barlow would be possible or some set up guy they can turn into a closer would go a long way to settling the bullpen down. They still have arms at AAA that could get a shot. Just not Palencia, Changing him from a AA starter to a AAA closer is a panic move.
There’s so many Cub “fans” on twitter and Facebook they gave up on the team after the 4th game of the season. Those so called fans are the issue. The cubs lineup today is horrendous. Some people have said they’re done with the team because of it. I’ll never understand why people give up that easily. I got a question for the other fan bases on here. Is there people in your fan base that just give up after losing games your team should’ve won? Giving up on a team with over 100 games to go. To me that’s the most asinine thing fans can do. The funny thing is. They’re all talk. They still watch the games. They still go to games.
Oh god yes, RS sometimes are too passionate about our team. So constantly want Cora fired and blame him for everything. Some constantly blame ownership and Bloom for the teams situation. Even when the players are playing well or decent, if they have a bad outing, slump or whatever. It becomes doom and gloom and the RS suck, fire the coach, fire Bloom, sell the team, etc.
I think that is just the way it is with fans and their teams.
It’s about tempering expectations. Sure the Cubs went out and added Taillon, Hosmer, Mancini and few others but they were never going to be a better than third place/fringe wild card contender at best.
They play in a division where 2nd-5th place can flip flop in a week
“Can the Cubs stop their skid?”
Thats a tall order being they are playing the Rays for the next 3 games
The answer was an emphatic yes. Complete game 1-0 1 hit shutout by Marcus Stroman. Only allowed 3 baserunners all gqme.
One game doesn’t matter when you win one, lose three or more.
This is what Dansby Swanson and an assortment of cheesy bench players paid to start everyday gets you: the worst record in the NL.
As long as the Cubs (and Sox) insist on wasting money on marginal talent, they’ll remain irrelevant franchises. The fact they place in the the two weakest divisions in baseball puts a certain stank on things.
CUB Fans: Do not give up on your team. You play in the same division as the brewers. You have the starting pitching. Just play up to your potential and you might make a move!
Not this year, and probably not next year, either.
The Cubs do have a lot of starting pitching, apparently they put Wesneski into the pen which hopefully will help and I’m equally hopefully Thompson will figure out what has been ailing him.
For the Cubs to do anything, Ross is going to have to keep them afloat and in contention for the wildcard/division until the trade deadline. Then Hoyer may reenforce the pen with Wicks and Brown, along with Heuer, Wesneski and Thompson.
I believe in the rotation (especially if Hendricks can resemble the Hendricks of old) and the position players but I don’t have much faith in Ross or the bullpen.
Side note, Cubs are going to have to figure out Morel because we cannot have the current version of Morel and Wisdom in the line up at the same time. Morel goes unbelievably hot and equally unbelievably cold. He offers defensive versatility but is a liability anywhere he plays.
Good effort by Soroka going 6 innings but Luetge let the game get out of hand. If Luetge can be optioned to AAA he should be.
A bummer for the Braves that Soroka has been accumulating so much service time despite never seeing a big league mound. So many flaws in the route to free agency. This is one that actually I think the player is getting too “easy” of a path to free agency. Granted his arbitration numbers are going to be down but that’s for good reason. Why does a player get rewarded for never pitching?