{"id":46378,"date":"2025-05-22T14:16:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T14:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/46378\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T14:16:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T14:16:12","slug":"chicago-baseball-report-cubs-lead-the-majors-in-1st-pitch-action-while-the-white-sox-are-on-par-with-last-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/46378\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago baseball report: Cubs lead the majors in 1st-pitch action, while the White Sox are on par with last year"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cubs bounced back from a walk-off loss Monday to take the series<\/a> against the Miami Marlins, heading into a day off that allows a tired bullpen to reset<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Cubs (30-20) travel to Cincinnati this weekend to face the Reds for the first time this year, part of a stretch in which two of their next three series are against the division foe.<\/p>\n

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With Wednesday\u2019s 6-5 loss to the Seattle Mariners<\/a>, the White Sox are on par with last year\u2019s team for the worst 50-game start in franchise history at 15-35. And the schedule doesn\u2019t get any easier with a home series against the Texas Rangers followed by three at Citi Field against the New York Mets.<\/p>\n

Every Thursday during the regular season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened \u2014 and what\u2019s ahead \u2014 for the Cubs<\/a> and White Sox<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Want more? Sign up for our Cubs Insider<\/a> and White Sox Insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kyle Tucker getting locked in again offensively<\/p>\n

The last two weeks hadn\u2019t seen Tucker look consistent in the batter\u2019s box. The Cubs slugger entered Tuesday\u2019s game against the Marlins 6-for-41 in his previous 11 games with a .271 on-base percentage.<\/p>\n

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When he had made contact, it often went for extra-base hits, tallying five in that span. But he appeared a tick off \u2014 until Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Tucker went 3-for-4 with a home run in the Cubs\u2019 blowout win, then slugged a home run in his first at-bat in Wednesday\u2019s series finale as part of another three-hit day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was searching for something that I could at least work with out there, and I felt better the last couple days and tried to carry that in at-bats going forward,\u201d Tucker said before Wednesday\u2019s game. \u201cI\u2019m trying to, in that kind of situation, find something that feels right and at least lock into that. So when I do go out for the game, I can hopefully feel that in the box and stick with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Ian Happ\u2019s return from the injured list Tuesday, manager Craig Counsell wanted to give Tucker\u2019s body a break by using him as the designated hitter for a few consecutive games. Tucker was the DH in the last two games against the Marlins while Seiya Suzuki started in right field. The 28-year-old Tucker has played in all 50 games this year.<\/p>\n

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Asked how he\u2019s feeling physically, Tucker acknowledged his current state: \u201cEveryone\u2019s probably a little banged up. I don\u2019t think you could really play this game and these amount of games in a row and not be banged up to an extent.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Tucker added that \u201cas long as I\u2019m good to go out there, I\u2019ll be in the lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chase Meidroth aims to \u2018keep the line moving\u2019<\/p>\n

Matthew Boyd\u2019s fastball was high and out of the zone. Meidroth still went after it and connected for a leadoff home run to left field Saturday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was good to get that one off my shoulders,\u201d Meidroth said of his first major-league home run.<\/p>\n

Meidroth had three hits in the game and has continued to be a steady force at the top of the Sox lineup. On Wednesday, he extended his hitting streak to nine games with a first-inning double against the Mariners at Rate Field.<\/p>\n

He said the goal is to \u201ckeep the line moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust trying to put the bat on the ball and get to first base,\u201d Meidroth said. \u201cAs many times as I can touch first base for other guys like Miguel (Vargas), (Andrew) Vaughn, Luis (Robert Jr.) and (Edgar) Quero \u2014 I\u2019m trying to get on first base so we can score some runs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Wednesday marked the 20th time Meidroth has led off this season. Entering Wednesday, he had a .297 average (22-for-74) and a .366 on-base percentage at the top of the order.<\/p>\n

\u201cFits in with his approach at the plate and kind of his mentality, so I think he takes pride in it,\u201d manager Will Venable said. \u201cHe\u2019s done a really nice job setting the tone for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Number of the week: 62<\/p>\n

The Cubs lead the majors with 62 RBIs on the first pitch of an at-bat and also own a league-best .421 first-pitch batting average.<\/p>\n

Week ahead: Cubs<\/p>\n

Friday: at Reds, 5:40 p.m., Marquee<\/p>\n

Saturday: at Reds, 3:10 p.m., Marquee<\/p>\n

Sunday: at Reds, 12:40 p.m., Marquee<\/p>\n

Monday: vs. Rockies, 1:20 p.m., Marquee<\/p>\n

Tuesday: vs. Rockies, 7:05 p.m., Marquee<\/p>\n

Wednesday: vs. Rockies, 7:05 p.m., Marquee<\/p>\n

Immediate production is a good feeling for any player after a call-up to the majors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Third baseman Matt Shaw recorded as many hits (five) in his first three games back with the Cubs as he did in his final 11 games and 38 plate appearances leading up to his demotion to Triple-A Iowa on April 15. The Cubs wanted to see Shaw harness a more aggressive approach than the stretches when he often looked overmatched and in survival mode, ultimately leading to his demotion.<\/p>\n

His three doubles against the Marlins surpassed the total extra-base hits he recorded during his first stint with the Cubs this year, managing just two (a double and a home run) in his first 18 games. An already deep Cubs lineup would become even more dynamic if Shaw, who was slotted into the No. 9 spot, continues to hit the way he did against the Marlins.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no question he has the eyes and the hands to hit in the big leagues,\u201d president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Monday. \u201cI think that the leg kick being so big, it\u2019s a hard timing mechanism to control, so we\u2019ve been working with him on lowering it a little bit, making that more in control. And it\u2019s had good results, and we feel like being able to do that in the big leagues is really important.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got a bright future. Those adjustments don\u2019t stop now. He\u2019s going to have to continue to make them as he goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Week ahead: White Sox<\/p>\n

Friday: vs. Rangers, 6:40 p.m., CHSN<\/p>\n

Saturday: vs. Rangers, 3:10 p.m., CHSN<\/p>\n

Sunday: vs. Rangers, 1:10 p.m., CHSN<\/p>\n

Monday: at Mets, 3:10 p.m., CSHN<\/p>\n

Tuesday: at Mets, 6:10 p.m., CHSN<\/p>\n

Wednesday: at Mets, 6:10 p.m., CHSN<\/p>\n

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Adrian Houser was in Round Rock, Texas, when he secured a one-year deal with the Sox.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I drove home to Tulsa to drop my truck off and flew out of there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Sox announced the terms of the contract ($1.35 million) on Tuesday, and Houser pitched that evening<\/a> against the Mariners, allowing two hits in six scoreless innings during a 1-0 victory.<\/p>\n

It was his first big-league appearance since July 24, 2024, for the Mets against the New York Yankees. He spent this season with Triple-A Round Rock in the Rangers organization before joining the Sox.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels really good, being able to get back up here and help to contribute to the team,\u201d Houser said. \u201cSo hopefully I can keep it going for the guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

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If the schedule holds, his next start would come against the Mets. He went 1-5 with a 5.84 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 23 appearances (seven starts) for the Mets last season.<\/p>\n

What we\u2019re readingQuotable<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely feel like we\u2019re in a better place in terms of how we\u2019re approaching the hitting department. I don\u2019t feel like we\u2019re where it needs to be quite yet. Some of that is the talent. We need to continue to focus on bringing in players that can help us on the offensive side. \u2026 We\u2019ve improved, (but) it\u2019s not where it needs to be.\u201d \u2014 Sox GM Chris Getz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cubs bounced back from a walk-off loss Monday to take the series against the Miami Marlins, heading…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2379],"tags":[11710,5,1001,138,49,2561,535,161,36,29,716,2000,58,4,61,62,65,105,69,396,2562,998],"class_list":{"0":"post-46378","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-white-sox","8":"tag-adrian-houser","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-chase-meidroth","11":"tag-chicago","12":"tag-chicago-white-sox","13":"tag-chicagowhitesox","14":"tag-cincinnati","15":"tag-cubs","16":"tag-ian-happ","17":"tag-kyle-tucker","18":"tag-matt-shaw","19":"tag-matthew-boyd","20":"tag-miami-marlins","21":"tag-mlb","22":"tag-new-york-mets","23":"tag-new-york-yankees","24":"tag-seattle-mariners","25":"tag-seiya-suzuki","26":"tag-texas-rangers","27":"tag-white-sox","28":"tag-whitesox","29":"tag-will-venable"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114551913606384703","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}