The Cubs have an opportunity to secure another series win Thursday after splitting the first two games against the Washington Nationals.
It’s the beginning of a challenging stretch in which the Cubs play 26 games in 27 days and are at the onset of a three-city, nine-game trip that includes stops in Detroit and Philadelphia.
The White Sox begin a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals on Friday at Rate Field. The Royals have a 4-0 lead in the season series, shutting out the Sox twice. The Sox will get their first look at first baseman Jac Caglianone, whom the Royals selected at No. 6 in the 2024 draft — one slot behind Sox pick Hagen Smith.
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.
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Matthew Boyd ‘answered the call’ for Cubs in 2-0 loss
Coming off a shortened season in his return from Tommy John surgery, Boyd entered 2025 grateful to the Cubs for giving him an opportunity to build off last year.
Boyd continues to be a stabilizing presence in the rotation, adding to an already great start to the season with his longest outing since 2021. The 34-year-old held the Nationals to two runs and four hits in 7 1/3 innings, but the Cubs were shut out for the third time in a 2-0 loss.
They loaded the bases with three consecutive singles to open the game against Nationals left-hander MacKenzie Gore but left them stranded and didn’t record another hit until Dansby Swanson’s one-out single in the ninth.
Boyd’s performance, which included taking a perfect game into the sixth, was yet another example of his consistency.
“He’s pitching really well, and at a time when, we had some starters hurt,” manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday. “He’s really answered the call and just done his job really, really well, and you’re happy for him. He’s healthy. He’s having success, and it’s good for him.”
Boyd credited catcher Carson Kelly for recognizing the Nationals’ approach and adapted to their aggressiveness, which allowed the lefty to get early-count outs and pitch deep into the game. Kelly believes Boyd has shown a really good version of himself and is going to keep getting better, citing the preparation that goes into the consistency of his starts.
“It just seems like he digests every start, good or bad, and finds a positive and continues to work through it each week,” Kelly said.
Boyd lowered his ERA through 12 starts to 3.01, the best among the Cubs’ current rotation.
“It’s just knowing what I expect of myself when I go out there,” Boyd said. “It’s just go attack and compete each time the ball is in my hand. Situationally that might change, but in terms of overarching, that’s really it, as simple as that sounds.”
Sox minor-leaguer Grant Taylor continues overpowering success out of pen
Taylor struck out two of the four batters he faced in his first relief outing for Double-A Birmingham on May 14 against Chattanooga. The right-hander struck out three of the four hitters in his next appearance against Chattanooga three days later.
Taylor has a 1.56 ERA in six starts this season for the Barons. He hasn’t allowed a run in seven relief appearances.
Since working out of the bullpen, Taylor has allowed three hits and struck out 14 in 7 2/3 scoreless innings.
“Grant is extremely outlier in a lot of ways with his physical attributes, the amount of extension he gets for his height (6-foot-3),” Sox senior adviser to pitching Brian Bannister said last week at Citi Field in New York. “Obviously the velocities, he can hit 100, 102 mph. He can really spin the ball. He moves in a very unique way with his hips.
“We all want to just do what’s best for him. Not limiting him to a specific role but literally just preparing him the best we can, developing him, being conscious of his prior injury history, total workload on the year and just give him a chance to really help this organization and have a great career, earn a lot of money and all of the above. And he’s doing a great job and he’s having fun.”
The Sox selected the right-hander in the second round of the 2023 draft out of LSU. He missed the 2023 season recovering from Tommy John surgery and had a 1.13 ERA last year with Class A Kannapolis, striking out 25 in 16 innings during a season affected by a lat injury.
Taylor, 23, has a 1.08 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 25 innings over 13 appearances (six starts) this year with the Barons. MLB.com rates Taylor as the No. 6 prospect in the Sox organization.
Bannister said the decision to get Taylor the bullpen work “is not just on a whim.”
“There’s a lot of thought that goes in — between the medical, between the biomechanical, between the analytics,” Bannister said. “And ultimately, I think he can pitch in multiple roles in the big leagues successfully. But right now he has a chance to stay healthy, continue to develop.”
Number of the week: 14
Sox infielder Lenyn Sosa has 29 two-strike hits this season, including a major-league-leading 14 on 0-2 counts. The Sox placed Sosa on the injured list Wednesday with a right hip flexor strain.
Week ahead: Cubs
- Thursday: at Nationals, 5:45 p.m., Marquee
- Friday: at Tigers, 6:10 p.m., Marquee
- Saturday: at Tigers, 12:10 p.m., Marquee
- Sunday: at Tigers, 12:40 p.m., Marquee
- Monday: at Phillies, 5:45 p.m., Marquee
- Tuesday: at Phillies, 5:45 p.m., Marquee
- Wednesday: at Phillies, 12:05 p.m., Marquee
Cade Horton experienced a different kind of test Tuesday.
The Nationals lineup exclusively had left-handed hitters, presenting a challenge to Horton in his fifth career outing. Horton largely navigated the Nationals hitters well, allowing three runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings.
He went to his offspeed stuff more frequently versus the lefties and even flashed his sweeper twice. Horton focused on executing his fastball inside, letting the natural cut on the pitch play up and commanding it at the top of the zone.
“It’s an aggressive team, so just landing breaking balls for strikes, but also expanding, it was huge,” Horton said. “Pitching with a lead really helps me settle in and makes me be in the zone more, so that helps a lot.”
Counsell was complimentary of how Horton has stepped up in Shota Imanaga’s rotation spot, with the Cubs going 5-0 on days the rookie right-hander pitches.
“I don’t think he’s trying to change anything, that’s an important note, and it seems like, ‘Oh, that’s easy to do,’ but you get to the big leagues and you think you’ve got to do something a lot better than maybe you’ve done,” Counsell said. “He’s been himself. And when you do that and you do that a little while, you gain confidence that this is going to work. And I think that’s how Cade’s approaching it.”
Week ahead: White Sox
- Thursday: vs. Tigers, 1:10 p.m., CHSN
- Friday: vs. Royals, 6:40 p.m., CHSN
- Saturday: vs. Royals, 3:10 p.m., CHSN
- Sunday: vs. Royals, 1:10 p.m., CHSN
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: at Astros, 7:10 p.m., CHSN
- Wednesday: at Astros, 7:10 p.m., CHSN
Noting the number of close defeats, general manager Chris Getz said the Sox have shown the ability to “bounce back every night.”
“Even though it might be a tough loss, where they lose in the ninth, they learn from it, rinse it off and get back to competing,” Getz said last week in New York.
The Sox are 3-15 in one-run games, including two of the four games they’ve played against the Royals. The Sox lost 4-3 on May 6 — a game featuring ninth-inning defensive miscues — and 2-1 the next night at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.
“We need to find ways to finish games and that’s a big part of a development of an organization, of a team,” Getz said. “We’re headed in the right direction, we need to flip the switch sometimes and close those games out and put more wins in the win column.”
What we’re reading today
- 5 Cubs who could make the National League All-Star team with fan voting underway
- Tim Elko returns to the White Sox, who place Lenyn Sosa on the IL with a right hip flexor strain
- Column: Did the Fire just call dibs on The 78? Or are the White Sox’s ballpark dreams still alive?
- Could the White Sox build a new stadium next to the Fire at The 78? Don’t count it out.
- Cubs rookie Matt Shaw capitalizing on 2nd chance in majors — at the plate and in the field
- Cubs rely on timely hits and Michael Busch’s near cycle in a 8-3 win: ‘He’s always patient’
- Column: Can the Tigers’ rise after a rebuild provide hope for the White Sox?
- Shane Smith’s curveball is an effective weapon in White Sox’s 8-1 win over Tigers
- Do the Cubs have a closer? 4 takeaways from an NL-best team as they start a tough road trip.
- MLB sees double-digit viewership increases in the United States and Japan
- Column: Ben Brown and Cubs embrace a new role — and the conditions — as they finish an 18-9 May
- White Sox wrap up an 11-17 May with a bench-clearing incident in a loss to Orioles
Quotable
“I always believe every player has their own form of leadership on a team, and I think (Michael Busch) definitely provides leadership to our veteran players in that regard, and it’s a real skill of his, and he’s really good at it.” — Counsell on Busch’s steady presence