AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

The Rundown: Cubs Still Struggling Despite Big Win, Bullpen Hit With Injuries, White Sox Will Honor Pope Leo

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterApril 13, 2026

“Came the last night of sadness, and it was clear she couldn’t go on. And the door was open and the wind appeared. The candles blew and then disappeared. The curtains flew and then he appeared.” – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult

I’m not sure how other fans feel, but my love/hate relationship with Chicago’s North Side Baseballers, and particularly Craig Counsell, reached its boiling point this weekend. After losing to the Pirates on Friday in a game where Shōta Imanaga was pulled while in the midst of a no-hitter, the Cubs blew myriad chances to win in extras on Saturday. Chicago avoided the sweep by beating the Bucs 7-6 yesterday after spotting Pittsburgh a five-run lead through two innings.

Before going further, I do believe Counsell is a very good manager, and yes, he should’ve pulled Imanaga. That said, the Cubs too often look lifeless under his lead. The Brewers played like they had nothing to lose when Counsell managed them for nine seasons. His squads in Chicago, however, play like they have nothing to win. It’s a bewildering conundrum because he really doesn’t deserve to be dismissed, especially because of injuries and a bullpen that can’t find its footing. That’s hardly Counsell’s fault, but at the same time, where’s the passion and excitement? Where are the intangibles that made him so successful in Milwaukee? It’s not some type of black magic emanating from Cream City, either. This isn’t a Stephen King novel we’re talking about.

It sure it feels like one at times, though, doesn’t it? Maybe we can call it Misery II or Dreadful Things. How about The Bazaar of Bad Baseball? Perhaps the 2026 Cubs just have a mild case of Captain Trips, but when does it get better?

“I don’t think anybody’s waiting on it,” Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman said. “We’re all, every single day, getting after it, trying to turn it. I feel like, over the course of 162 [games], the cream will rise to the top, and we’ll play good baseball. We haven’t done that so far, but we know we’re capable of playing way better than we’ve played. We’ve just got to execute better in those situations.”

Still, and almost unbelievably, the Cubs are just two games behind the division-leading Pirates despite an uneven and unsatisfying start to the season. They could be a couple games up a week from now by playing a little better and getting a little more luck. Stranger things have happened, though it won’t be easy. The Cubs play the Phillies and the Mets over the next 10 games before ending the month with away games against the Dodgers and Padres. Confidence for fans and Cubs players alike could be at an all-time high or low come May 1.

Cubs News & Notes

Ball Four

But Taillon kept the Cubs in the game, right?

Central Intelligence

  • Pittsburgh (9-6): Phil Garner, a beloved member of the last Pirates’ team to win the World Series, died on Sunday, aged 76. Garner managed the Brewers in the 1990s and would famously troll White Sox manager Terry Bevington whenever given the opportunity.
  • Cincinnati (9-7): The Reds are struggling after a hot start and entered their weekend set against the Angels with the lowest scoring offense in the National League.
  • St. Louis (8-7): Rookie Jordan Walker is off to a blistering start, leading all of baseball with seven home runs. That ties him with Cardinals legends Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, and Mark McGwire for the most homers by a player in the first 15 games of a season in franchise history.
  • Milwaukee (8-7): The Brewers have lost five straight, their longest skid in three seasons. They also may lose Christian Yelich for a week or more because of a tight hamstring.
  • Chicago (7-8): Yohan Ramírez was tasked with keeping the Cubs off the scoreboard in extra innings on Saturday, but it was poor execution and lack of clutch hitting by Chicago that saved him. The Pittsburgh reliever worked around two automatic baserunners, three walks, a wild pitch, and his own throwing error to blank the Cubs through both the 10th and 11th innings.

How about That!

The White Sox are calling up Chicago native Noah Schultz to start tomorrow’s game against the Rays. Sam Antonacci could follow Schultz to the bigs.

The Dodgers and Mets will meet tonight in a matchup of MLB’s biggest payrolls. The combined 2026 salaries of the four players with the highest AAV on each team (Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, and Bo Bichette) are more than the total payroll of 14 teams and within $400,000 of the Mariners.

Ohtani is leading the league with a 46-game on-base streak and is leading all starters with a 28.2 scoreless innings streak.

The Padres, with an almost faultless bullpen led by Cy Young candidate Mason Miller, are the hottest team in baseball. I believe the 2025 Cubs would have won the World Series if they had acquired Miller from the A’s.

The Diamondbacks and Angels are the victims of the biggest frozen yogurt scam ($) since Seinfeld. Where do you keep your bathroom scale?

The White Sox announced Friday that they will hand out Pope-themed hats to all fans who attend their August 11 game against the Reds. Pope Leo is a rabid fan of Chicago’s South Side Baseballers.

The Mariners unveiled a statue of Ichiro Suzuki, but something was amiss.

Consider yourself lucky if you DON’T get this joke.

Today marks the anniversary of the passing of Tigers pitcher Mark Fidrych, one of the game’s most colorful figures of all-time. Fidrych only seemed like he walked out of the pages of a King novel and into the majors.

Apropos of Nothing

I’d like to see Kevin Alcántara get a shot to help the Cubs, and he deserves it. Keeping him at Iowa will increase his trade value, however. The Jaguar will be out of options after this season, and that’s a big perk at the trade deadline for non-contending teams that are seeking long-term outfield options. Alcántara is raking in Triple-A and should continue to do so.

If he isn’t moved to another team, he’ll probably take over in left or right field in 2027 if Ian Happ and/or Seiya Suzuki are not extended. Alcántara is a good problem for Chicago’s front office to have. He has a path to a position, but he’s also padding his worth should the Cubs decide to exchange him for a big league asset.

Extra innings

When the explanation is more confusing than the play in question…

Give Bregman the RBI on a P4 sans the sacrifice (charged at-bat) and credit Dansby Swanson with heads-up baserunning. That’s all you had to say.

They Said It

  • “Last year around this time, we were 7-5. We had won five in a row. We were scoring a gazillion runs a game. That ended up being our longest winning streak of the season. We have [almost] 150 games left. Our offense projects to be an excellent offense. I would be shocked if our offense isn’t an excellent offense. But April baseball and small samples can be difficult to look at.” – Jed Hoyer
  • “Offense is sequential. You have to string together. It has to be a line of consistent at-bats. You can’t have one good at-bat and then one at-bat that’s empty. On days when it’s difficult for the home run to be a part of your offense, it’s even more important that sequential offense happens. You have to have three, four straight good at-bats to score runs because you’re going to get some home runs knocked down. That’s really where we’ve probably failed. We’ve had the two good at-bats and then the next at-bat has not worked.” – Counsell

Monday Walk-Up Song

“Life was such a wheel that no man could stand upon it for long. And it always, at the end, came round to the same place again.”

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterApril 13, 2026
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