{"id":752377,"date":"2026-07-15T11:21:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T11:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/752377\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T11:21:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T11:21:18","slug":"column-white-sox-and-cubs-aim-their-sights-on-october","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/752377\/","title":{"rendered":"Column: White Sox and Cubs aim their sights on October"},"content":{"rendered":"

Will Venable and Craig Counsell were in good position heading into the All-Star break with teams that had been through various struggles and came out ahead.<\/p>\n

Progress is not always accomplished in a conventional manner, as both managers can attest.<\/p>\n

The Chicago White Sox were tied for first in the American League Central, despite starting 1-5 and being outscored 52-21 in those six games, looking like a repeat of 2025, or perhaps even \u201924. They lost slugger Munetaka Murakami for six weeks in a stretch where they faced the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees in consecutive series, a season-wrecking road to destruction.<\/p>\n

But the Sox went 5-3 over the stretch with a rainout, and have gone 11-11 since, staying above water with Murakami now back.<\/p>\n

The Sox enter the second half with a 50-45 record, and Venable is on track for the AL Manager of the Year award.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just settled in, and these guys are really all major leaguers, but if you\u2019re going to survive in this league you have to deal with adversity,\u201d Venable said Sunday. \u201cI thought we did a good job and stayed the course in the early going when it was really tough. We just didn\u2019t feel stable, so to find our way means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago White Sox first baseman Miguel Vargas celebrates after hitting a home run in the 10th inning of a game against the Detroit Tigers at Rate Field in Chicago on Friday, May, 29, 2026. (Josh Boland\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

There have been many surprises in the half, including rookies Sam Antonacci and Tristan Peters, Miguel Vargas\u2019 improvement, and relievers Sean Newcomb and Bryan Hudson. But Murakami is the one who changed the way fans feel about the Sox, and maybe the way the Sox feel about themselves.<\/p>\n

It all started when the Sox agreed to his request to install bidets in the locker room<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got him the bidet, and that just speaks to trying to get him as comfortable as possible,\u201d general manager Chris Getz told me in spring training.<\/p>\n

As the old saying goes, the team that bidets together, stays together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a game-changer,\u201d one Sox outfielder told a Japanese reporter.<\/p>\n

Game changed.<\/p>\n

I asked Murakami in spring training if he was ready to become the face of the franchise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t really gotten to a point where I\u2019ve had any results in the major league yet,\u201d Murakami replied through his interpreter. \u201cSo I don\u2019t think of myself as the face of the franchise yet. I\u2019ll try to build on that this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long before he proved himself worthy of the designation. Even the six-week absence with a hamstring injury couldn\u2019t stop the Mune Train from rolling along, and this week he made the All-Star team and participated in the Home Run Derby<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Photos: MLB\u2019s 2026 Home Run Derby, featuring Munetaka Murakami<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In Murakami, the Sox found a slugger who could help lift a team with his bat and help lift a fan base with his mere presence. The Sox have not had a free agent make a first impression like Mune for a long time.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not the only one to generate interest in a Sox team that stunned the experts in the first half after being pegged for another season of 100 or more losses, but the ovations he received in his return to the South Side last weekend<\/a> indicate this is the start of a beautiful friendship.<\/p>\n

Murakami is only signed through 2027, and if he\u2019s looking to maximize his earnings, he\u2019ll likely be gone when his contract ends and he becomes a free agent. The Sox haven\u2019t signed a player to a nine-figure contract, as every Sox fan knows, and unless Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf takes the kind of risk most other owners consider standard operating procedure for superstars, he\u2019ll be too expensive to keep.<\/p>\n

The key is to win now, enjoy him while you can, and cross your fingers that Murakami might love Chicago enough to take a hometown discount.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong signals the safe sign after advancing to second base following a single in the fourth inning of a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field in Chicago on May 1, 2026. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

The Cubs signed their own face of the franchise to a six-year, $115 million deal<\/a> at the start of the season, rewarding Pete Crow-Armstrong for doing PCA things<\/a>, which may or may not include Gold Glove defense, taking extra bases, home run hitting and bat slamming. (Though probably not the bat slamming.)<\/p>\n

The sound of his initials alone drew an instant reaction, with \u201cPCA\u201d chants from road-tripping Cubs fans annoying the locals in venues from Dodger Stadium to Great American Ball Park to Rate Field.<\/p>\n

Sometimes being a villain<\/a> pays off.<\/p>\n

The Cubs held the top National League wild-card spot at the break and sliced the Milwaukee Brewers\u2019 division lead to five games with a 20-8 stretch since June 11, roughly coinciding with Crow-Armstrong\u2019s move up to the leadoff spot.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a zig-zag route from 15 games over .500 to .500 and back to 12 games over .500.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur record is our record,\u201d Counsell said Sunday. \u201cI don\u2019t have any grand stories. You guys write the stories about the first half. We\u2019re trying to grind out as many wins as we can. That\u2019s the job, that\u2019s the goal. Keep trying to stack up wins.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 54-42 record is more than satisfactory considering the pitching injuries and early struggles of Alex Bregman and Dansby Swanson, who leads the team with 58 RBI, including 26 in a 10-game span.<\/p>\n

Zig, meet zag.<\/p>\n

\"CubsChicago Cubs pitcher Ryan Rolison walks to the dugout after pitching during the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Wrigley Field on June 16, 2026, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

The story of the \u201926 Cubs can\u2019t be told without mentioning three things: Crow-Armstrong, the injuries and a bunch of guys few fans had heard of back in February who became important pieces to the playoff puzzle.<\/p>\n

Everyone who claimed in spring training that Trent Thornton and Ryan Rolison would be high-leverage relievers for the Cubs down the stretch, raise your hand.<\/p>\n

No, not you, Jed.<\/p>\n

Bregman signed a five-year, $175 million deal and started slowly before surging in the final week<\/a> before the break. Thornton and Rolison combined make under $2 million and have performed with next to no attention in the first half, joining Jacob Webb as late-inning options for Counsell.<\/p>\n

Hoyer signed the 32-year-old Thornton to a one-year, $1 million deal on Jan. 23 after he posted a 4.89 ERA with the Seattle Mariners last year. An injury to Daniel Palencia forced Counsell to audible, and now Thornton has three saves and a 1.00 ERA over his last 10 appearances, after saving only one game in his previous 250 major-league appearances.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure if you saw this, Sully, but we don\u2019t have a closer,\u201d Counsell said Saturday when asked about Thornton\u2019s usage at the end of a win in Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

\u201cUh, yeah, I know. Impressive for someone who\u2019s not a closer?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I mean that\u2019s what I\u2019m so proud of the guys for, actually,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cI kind of joke with them that when the phone rings they don\u2019t actually know who it\u2019s going to be. But they all do their jobs really well, and I couldn\u2019t be happier with what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Always with the joking, that\u2019s Craig Counsell.<\/p>\n

Thornton acted like he\u2019d been closing for years, pumping his fist and screaming guttural sounds. He seemed to be enjoying the opportunity to close after a lifetime of almost no opportunities to close.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to complain at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s always a good idea when you\u2019ve received a promotion.<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old Rolison was sold by the Colorado Rockies to the Atlanta Braves last November after posting a 7.02 ERA in 31 appearances in his rookie year. He was then designated for assignment and claimed by the White Sox in December, then DFA\u2019d again and selected off waivers by the Cubs in January.<\/p>\n

The left-hander, who earns $780,000, is 5-1 with a 2.80 ERA in 32 appearances, limiting left-handed hitters to a .208 average.<\/p>\n

Who knew?<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know where I\u2019d end up, being on the waiver wire and getting claimed and DFA\u2019d, it was kind of frustrating,\u201d Rolison said Sunday. \u201cI knew my offseason was going really well, and I came into spring training with an open mind. The Cubs sat me down and said, \u2018This is why we think you can be successful,\u2019 and that sparked my positivity on the outlook of \u201926.\u201d<\/p>\n

The positivity paid off, and a mix of relievers who didn\u2019t know they\u2019d still be Cubs in mid-July are all part of the narrative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of bumps and bruises along the way, but everyone is answering the call,\u201d Thornton said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Will Venable and Craig Counsell were in good position heading into the All-Star break with teams that had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":752378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,138,24,49,4245,4071,576,161,884,4,30818,256,73,35,8052,7985,998],"class_list":["post-752377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-cubs","tag-baseball","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-chicagocubs","tag-chris-getz","tag-craig-counsell","tag-cubs","tag-jed-hoyer","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-all-star-break","tag-mlb-baseball","tag-munetaka-murakami","tag-pete-crow-armstrong","tag-ryan-rolison","tag-trent-thornton","tag-will-venable"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116923733637567739","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752377","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=752377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/752378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}