Chicago Cubs - Overview (2024)

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports that a trio of AL East squads in the Orioles, Red Sox and Yankees are also in the mix. Taillon would fill an obvious need for Houston’s injury-ravaged starting rotation and provide Houston with some extra depth moving forward as he’s under contract through 2026. The 32-year-old right-hander has been phenomenal this season for Chicago with a sparkling 2.96 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 78/21 K/BB ratio across 100 1/3 innings (17 starts). No word yet on the other teams in the mix or how close the two sides might be on a potential deal.

It’s not exactly blockbuster fantasy managers have been waiting for since Celestino hasn’t appeared in the majors since getting into 145 contests for the Twins from 2021 to 2022. The 25-year-old is a strong defensive outfielder and provides the Cubs with some extra organizational depth moving forward. He’s batted .271/.348/.356 with three homers and nine steal across 264 plate appearances over 67 games this season for Triple-A Indianapolis.

Suzuki doubled and scored a run in the opening frame before smacking a solo shot -- his 14th big fly of the season -- off Brewers reliever Bryse Wilson in the third inning. The 29-year-old corner outfielder is batting .264 (80-for-303) with 42 runs scored, 14 homers, 47 RBI and 10 steals across 78 games.

Steele gave up six hits, including run-scoring singles to Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang in the first and sixth innings, respectively. He finished with four strikeouts and also handed out three free passes. It wasn’t a dominant performance, but it was a much-needed bounce-back outing after getting lit up for five runs over 4 2/3 innings last Friday in his second-half debut against the Diamondbacks. He’ll bring a stellar 3.08 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 91/23 K/BB ratio across 96 1/3 innings (16 starts) into a road tilt on Tuesday against the Reds.

Bellinger has been on the IL with a fractured middle finger since July 11th, so he’s trending to the 2-4 week timeline that was expected. While there still isn’t a specific date for his return, Craig Counsell said Bellinger could come off the IL during the Cubs’ upcoming road trip.

ho*rner and shortstop Dansby Swanson were responsible for four of the seven hits the Cubs strung together on the evening. Unfortunately, none of those hits resulted in runs, as the Cubs spent the evening being stifled by Colin Rea and the Brewers’ bullpen. ho*rner has now hit safely in three-straight games and has two doubles over that span. He’s hitting .296 in the month of July and continues to be a run-scoring machine for the Cubbies – with the exception of tonight’s shutout loss.

Taillon exited in the eighth inning having not allowed a run but with a runner on first. The runner, who was inherited by Julian Merryweather, was later driven home on a single by Bryce Turang, giving the Brewers a 1-0 lead and Taillon his only earned run on the night. Unfortunately, that would be enough for Taillon to be hit with the loss. Taillon didn’t have his strikeout pitch working in this one, but still managed to limit the Brewers to just seven baserunners on the evening. He didn’t earn the win for his efforts, but Taillon did lower his ERA to 2.96 on the season. He’ll look to pick up his eighth win of the season on Monday against the Reds.

Happ’s home run was his 16th of the season. He belted a solo shot off Tobias Myers in the sixth inning. Happ hit just two home runs in his first 47 games of the season, but has since hit 14 home runs in his last 49 games. He’s hitting .237 with 59 RBI and seven stolen bases on the year.

The save was Neris’ 14th of the season. He has a 3.63 ERA on the year, but hasn’t allowed a single run in his last nine appearances. Neris has four saves and two wins in that time.

Assad gave up one hit, walked six and struck out two. It was a bit of a mixed bag for Assad in his second start since returning from the injured list. He wasn’t throwing a lot of strikes, but gave up just one hit. The Brewers worked his pitch count up to 76 in the fourth inning and the Cubs decided they weren’t going to push him further than that. Assad has a 3.15 ERA on the year. The 26-year-old right-hander is set to face the Royals on the road this weekend.