👋 Good morning!

There’s something absolutely terrifying about a close game against a historically bad opponent.

One day, you’re crowning the Cubs’ offense as better than 2016’s, and later that night, they’re taken to extra innings by the nine-win Colorado Rockies.

You read that right: the Rockies are 9-46. Even the 2024 White Sox, who set the record for most losses in a modern MLB season (121), were 15-40 through their first 55 games.

Luckily for the Cubs, Matt Shaw, in his eighth game since being recalled from Triple-A, played the role of the hero in their latest storybook ending with a perfectly placed single over the first baseman’s head for a walk-off winner.

The best part about winning ugly? Winning. Doesn’t matter how you do it as long as it gets done, even against the worst team in baseball.

– Patrick Norton

Blackhawks introduce Blashill

The Blackhawks officially introduced Jeff Blashill as the 42nd head coach in franchise history in a press conference held on Tuesday morning.

Here’s what you might’ve missed:

• Blashill on the state of the Blackhawks’ rebuild: “We have a number of great, great young players in the system and also young players that are going to be with us to start the season in Chicago and knocking on the door in Rockford.
   
  “We have an opportunity to have depth at every position and, honestly, potential superstars at every position, and that's very, very unique in this league.
   
  “My job now is to help mold them, teach them, coach them and lead them to become great winners in this league. It's a job I look forward to.”
   

• GM Kyle Davidson on Blashill’s fit: “We wanted someone who would grow with this team, instill, teach, and hold players accountable to the fundamental habits required to win in the NHL, embrace the challenge of working with and developing a young group of players, and someone who shared the same vision as we did for the players and prospects that we've accumulated and built to this point.
   
  “In Jeff, we found a candidate who checked all those boxes.”
   

• THE STAFF: Anders Sorensen will stay with the NHL club as an assistant, and Jimmy Waite will remain as goaltenders coach. The Blackhawks officially named two-time Selke Trophy winner Michael Peca to Blashill’s staff, with Penguins assistant Mike Velucci reportedly expected to join, too.

Blashill might not have won his introductory press conference as convincingly as Ben Johnson did when the Bears hired him in January, but he didn’t lose it either.

And that’s what’s most important, right? Obviously not. But there’s still something to be said about making a first impression, and Blashill at the very least earned himself a chance to prove he’s the right guy to take the next step with the Blackhawks.

As far as saying the right things, it’s tough not to be excited about what could be around the corner if Blashill is capable of following through on his plans as head coach.

Despite bottom-three finishes in each of the last three seasons, I really think this team is through the dark days of the rebuild. They’re not out of the woods yet, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

Maybe that opinion is rooted in misguided optimism, but it’s impossible to watch Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Artyom Levshunov, and Alex Vlasic and not believe that better days are ahead.

GO DEEPER: Jay Zawaski’s three big takeaways from Blashill’s presser.

STRAINED: Miguel Amaya’s oblique strain will keep the Cubs catcher sidelined for 4-6 weeks, manager Craig Counsell revealed ahead of yesterday’s walk-off win. Amaya, who left Saturday’s loss to the Reds in the fifth inning, was off to the strongest start of his young career, slashing .280/.313/.505 with four home runs while splitting the workload with Carson Kelly.

WHO’D HAVE THOUGHT? Miguel Vargas clubbed his team-leading eighth home run of the season in Tuesday afternoon’s 6-4 loss to the New York Mets. Who could have possibly predicted that Vargas would lead the team in home runs this year after slashing .104/.217/.170 in 42 games with the White Sox last season?

In a stunning twist, our very own Sean Anderson and Joey Christopoulos anticipated that very outcome in our 2025 season predictions.

VERY, VERY MINOR TRADE ALERT: The White Sox sent catcher Matt Thaiss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday in exchange for OF Dru Baker. Thaiss, 30, appeared in 35 games for the White Sox after being acquired from the Cubs in the offseason. Baker, 25, has played 17 games with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate, Durham Bulls, sporting a .646 OPS.

OTAs 2: Electric Boogaloo: The Bears kicked off their second round of organized team activities at Halas Hall yesterday. Like last week, we’ll hear from head coach Ben Johnson and select players after today’s workout.

This four-day stretch of OTAs is the final event on the schedule ahead of next week’s mandatory minicamp. Then, rookies will report for one last three-day OTAs session the following week (June 9-11) before the Bears break until training camp in July.

REMINDER: Because we’ll be in Lake Forest, today’s CHGO Bears Podcast will be LIVE at 4:00 p.m. instead of our normal 12 p.m. slot.

⚾️ White Sox @ Mets
12:10 on CHSN

📺 CHGO Blackhawks
2:00 on YouTube

📺 CHGO White Sox
POSTGAME on YouTube

📺 CHGO Bulls
4:00 on YouTube

📺 CHGO Bears
4:00 on YouTube

📺 CHGO Sky
TBD on YouTube

⚾️ Cubs vs. Rockies
7:05 on Marquee

📺 CHGO Cubs
POSTGAME on CHGO Cubs YT

Talk to you tomorrow!