👋 Good morning!

Yesterday was just one of those days.

Another untimely blowout loss for the Cubs, a rather uninspired effort from the Sox until it was too late, and a rollercoaster practice for the offense at Bears camp…

I say we move on and bury the tape. Today’s a new day — and hopefully a better one.

– Patrick Norton

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Time to Panic?

After another dud against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cubs are suddenly two games back of their neighbor to the north in the NL Central. With less than 36 hours before Thursday night’s trade deadline, is it time to panic on the North Side?

First, let’s look at what’s contributed to their recent slump:

Oh, Ruts: Since July 3rd, Kyle Tucker has a .194 batting average with only two doubles and one home run.

In the same stretch, Ian Happ has hit just .188 with five extra-base hits, losing his role as the leadoff man in the process.

To make matters worse for Happ, he’s headed to the 10-day IL after fouling a ball off his foot in the eighth inning last night. Moisés Ballesteros will take Happ’s place on the roster.
Ace’s Low: Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd sure picked a heck of a time for their worst starts of the season.

Imanaga couldn’t buy an out against the White Sox last Friday, and even more troubling, his velocity was a couple of ticks down, topping out at 90.8 mph. In fact, four of his seven slowest fastballs this season came in the blowout loss.

On the other hand, Boyd’s struggles were mostly related to his control. He walked a season-high five batters in Monday night’s loss to the Brewers, gutting through five innings to preserve the Cubs’ bullpen. Boyd hadn’t thrown more than 80 innings in a season since 2019 before this year — he currently sits at 123.2 IP.
Relief? What relief? In the month of July, the Cubs own the third-highest bullpen ERA (6.30) in baseball.

On Tuesday, the club designated RHP Chris Flexen for assignment. Flexen began the year with an improbable 12 scoreless outings, but things had since turned south on the long reliever, who allowed at least one home run in each of his final five appearances with the Cubs.

Could Ryan Pressly be next? The former closer has allowed home runs in four of his last five outings, including last night’s grand slam to Andrew Vaughn.

So, where’s the panic level? It’s growing, but the anxiety caused by the uncertainty of the trade deadline is making it seem worse than it actually is.

The good news for the Cubs? They can realistically address each pressing issue before Thursday’s deadline. But will they be able to pull it off? That’s a much trickier conversation.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan still believes the Cubs are heavily in the mix on Diamondbacks 3B Eugenio Suarez. He’d provide an immediate boost and raise the floor for the Cubs’ scuffling lineup.

And it would be somewhat shocking if the Cubs didn’t make a significant move to bolster their rotation and ease the burden on Imanaga and Boyd.

Just look at last night’s reported roster move: does the decision not to call up Owen Caissie to fill in for the injured Happ signal a likelihood that the Cubs’ top prospect will be used in some big swing before the deadline?

GO DEEPER: Luke Stuckmeyer and Joey Christopoulos on what’s next after Tuesday’s unsavory loss.

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TAGGED: After allowing five earned runs on two homers in his start against the Tampa Bay Rays last week, Jonathan Cannon wasn’t much better for the Sox against the Philadelphia Phillies last night.

Cannon allowed six earned runs on seven hits, including a mammoth two-run shot by Kyle Schwarber in the third.

The Sox couldn’t get anything going off Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo, only picking up two hits over seven innings. Colson Montgomery picked up an RBI on a groundout in the ninth, and Lenyn Sosa brought it within three with a homer in the following at-bat, but that’s as close as they’d get, losing 6-3.

UP & DOWN: While we’re still waiting for Caleb Williams and the Bears’ offense to put together its first well-rounded, solid performance in training camp, Ben Johnson isn’t sounding the alarm yet, or any time soon for that matter.

Instead, the head coach offered some pretty high praise for his quarterback before Tuesday’s practice:

“We’re adding more every day. I told [Williams] this on the player day off – his process is really clean right now. I’m talking about how he’s preparing. I’m really pleased with it. He’s doing the work behind the scenes that no one else is seeing, and we’re starting to see the dividends being paid from it.”

MORE: Training Camp Day 6 notes, plus Carm’s unsung hero