The Cubs are rolling as they into a big weekend series with the St. Louis Cardinals coming to Wrigley Field.
Riding a five-game winning streak and winners of 11 of 13, the Cubs have an opportunity to cut into the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers’ five-game lead.
The White Sox continue a big four-game series this weekend at Progressive Field in Cleveland. They dropped into a first-place tie with the Guardians in the American League Central with their 6-5 loss in Thursday’s series opener.
Every Friday 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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One year later …
White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the third inning against the Cubs on May 16, 2026, at Rate Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Colson Montgomery is nearing the one-year anniversary of his big-league debut.
The Sox called up the shortstop from Triple-A Charlotte last Fourth of July. The 2021 first-round pick has emerged as a power source.
He hit 21 home runs in 71 games last season and has 21 this season in 82 games.
Along the way, Montgomery said plenty has changed for him and the Sox.
“I feel like the vibes are always still the same from when I got up here last year, but I think everyone up here, we’re a young team, but we like to act like we have that experience and that confidence because we do,” Montgomery said Monday at Camden Yards. “We have confidence in ourselves, confidence in our coaches and pitching and everything.
“For me, I just think each day you’ve got to keep getting better. I feel like I’m getting more and more polished … but I think it’s just everyone in here, just being competitive.”
Montgomery made a bit of history Tuesday in Baltimore, becoming just the third Sox player to hit a home run that landed on Eutaw Street well beyond the right-field wall. He joined Jeff Liefer (June 21, 2001) and Adam Dunn (Sept. 8, 2013).
“I wasn’t thinking of trying to do too much and trying to hit home runs or things like that,” Montgomery said after Tuesday’s game. “I feel like when my swing is in a good spot, and they leave breaking balls over the plate I’m able to scoop them out.”
Back in the big leagues
Cubs right fielder Kevin Alcántara celebrates at first base after his single in the second inning against the Padres on June 30, 2026, at Wrigley Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
For as long as Kevin Alcántara has been in the Cubs organization as the main acquisition in the Anthony Rizzo trade-deadline deal in 2021, the outfielder doesn’t turn 24 until July 12.
Alcántara still has an opportunity to establish himself in the big leagues, but those chances haven’t been regular. Even now, recalled Monday to take the roster spot of the injured Matt Shaw, playing time isn’t expected be a daily occurrence. Manager Craig Counsell envisions utilizing Alcántara in a platoon, getting him at-bats when a left-hander starts.
“This is what happens to young players a little bit is that your opportunities are not clean, necessarily, on teams like this,” Counsell said this week. “In other words, it’s not just, hey, here’s some playing time, doesn’t really matter what happens, you’re going to keep playing. … You’ve got to just make the most of it, gain experience of from it, get better from it and keep moving forward. It’s not like we’re done getting better. So that’s where Kevin’s at.”
Alcántara collected two hits during his three at-bats during the Cubs’ sweep of the San Diego Padres.
It comes on the heels of Alcántara getting locked in again with Triple-A Iowa, where he recorded six multihit games during his 14 games back in the minors. Alcántara told the Tribune that the regular playing time with Iowa was helpful in honing his swing and being in a better rhythm at the plate.
Figuring out how to stay ready at the major-league level as an inexperienced player used to getting everyday at-bats is always a challenge. During Alcántara’s first stint in the majors this season, he went 1-for-9 with four strikeouts and one walk in 12 games.
“He’s still a very young player and with lots of room for these experiences to be very helpful and beneficial, even when things don’t go well,” Counsell said.
Number of the week: 20
Miguel Vargas (19) needs one home run to join Montgomery (21) and Munetaka Murakami (20) and form the second trio of Sox teammates to hit 20-plus homers before the All-Star break. The group of Jim Thome (30), Jermaine Dye (25) and Paul Konerko (21) accomplished the feat in 2006.
Week ahead: Cubs
Cubs outfield prospect Josiah Hartshorn bats during spring training on Feb. 28, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Meghan Montemurro/Chicago Tribune)
Friday: vs. Cardinals, 3:05 p.m., Marquee
Saturday: vs. Cardinals, 7:08 p.m., Fox
Sunday: vs. Cardinals, 1:30 p.m., Peacock
Monday: off
Tuesday: at Orioles, 5:35 p.m., Marquee
Wednesday: at Orioles, 5:35 p.m., Marquee
Thursday: at Orioles, 5:35 p.m., Marquee
The upcoming All-Star Futures Game will feature two Cubs prospects.
One of their top prospects, outfielder/first baseman Josiah Hartshorn, and right-hander Mason McGwire were chosen for the NL roster as part of the showcase event. Hartshorn, rated their No. 3 prospect by MLB.com, has experienced a breakout campaign in his first season of pro ball. Only 19, Hartshorn already hit his way out of Low A Myrtle Beach and is at High A South Bend as one of the youngest players in the Midwest League.
In 71 games between the two levels, Hartshorn is hitting .282 with a .399 on-base percentage, .916 OPS, 14 doubles, 14 home runs and 60 RBIs.
McGwire, ranked 30th in the Cubs system, missed all of the 2025 season because of a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament that did not require surgery. An eighth-round pick in 2022, McGwire opened the season at Low A before earning a promotion to South Bend at the end of May.
In five starts at South Bend, the right-hander — and son of slugger Mark McGwire — has allowed two runs or fewer in four of those outings with 19 strikeouts and nine walks in 18 innings.
The Futures Game, in its 27th year, will be played 11 a.m. July 12 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
Week ahead: White Sox
White Sox pitcher Erick Fedde delivers against the Guardians on June 24, 2026, at Rate Field. (Josh Boland/Chicago Tribune)
Friday: at Guardians, 6:10 p.m., CHSN
Saturday: at Guardians, 6:10 p.m., CHSN
Sunday: at Guardians, 1 p.m., Peacock
Monday: off
Tuesday: vs. Red Sox, 6:40 p.m., CHSN
Wednesday: vs. Red Sox, 6:40 p.m., CHSN
Thursday: vs. Red Sox, 1:10 p.m., CHSN
Erick Fedde had a bounce-back June, going 3-1 with a 2.39 ERA in six outings (two starts). The right-hander rebounded after going 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in five May appearances (three starts).
“I’ve been really getting after guys, just kind of sticking to what makes me good in making adjustments,” Fedde said Tuesday. “(Pitching coach Zach) Bove and the pitching staff have been great about, every start, coming to me with new ideas and ways to attack hitters and kind of usages.
“And we made some good adjustments. We started throwing my cutter a little less, and I think it had some good effects. So now when I am throwing it, it’s kind of catching people off guard. It was a pitch I’d given up a lot of runs on, and then I feel like this month, it’s been one of my better pitches.”
Overall, the right-hander is 3-6 with a 4.41 ERA in 17 outings (nine starts) after signing a one-year deal with the Sox in February.
“The guys here are never stopping in the sense of being content with the way things are,” Fedde said. “Shout-out to those guys for working really hard behind the scenes.”
What we’re reading today
Quotable
“The way we’ve played the last 10 days, it feels like that, and you start treating every moment like that, and that can make you a better team when you value every single moment and understand how important every moment to the game, every out, every pitch is. Every season offers some times when the games sequence together, and we’ve been in the middle of it for a while now.” — Counsell of how stretches in the middle of the season can battle test a team.