AP Photo/Matt Slocum

The Rundown: Fireworks Chase ASG Blues Away, Cubs Looking for Consistency, Brewers Land McCullers

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterJuly 15, 2026

“I wanna know what you’re thinking. There are some things you can’t hide.” – What’s on Your Mind (Pure Energy) by Information Society

The best part of this week’s All-Star festivities was the Sandlot-inspired fireworks show. The heart-tugging tribute to baseball engineered by MLB with Ray Charles singing America the Beautiful was goosebump-inducing. If you are one of the many individuals who chastised the mid-game break on social media, do the rest of us a favor and find your missing soul. If you further felt that the five-minute distraction was too disruptive during yet another mid-summer snoozefest, you may also want to ask the great and mighty wizard to give you a heart.

Let me ask this, instead: Do you remember the scores or highlights of last year’s game? Do you even remember where it was played? The only everlasting All-Star memories I can recall involve Pete Rose taking out Ray Fosse in 1970, Fred Lynn going yard off of Atlee Hammaker with the bases loaded at Comiskey Park in 1983, and the 7-7 tie in Milwaukee in 2002 (Bud Selig be damned). Frankly, I’m glad we’re past all the shenanigans. Wrigley Field will host the big to-do next summer, though that whole work stoppage thing hovers over the pending festivities like a low-lying fog bank. Cubs fans can’t have anything nice.

That apparently includes decent upgrades at the trade deadline. By now, I’m sure you’ve all seen the disappearing tweet by Bruce Levine that might be considered insulting to Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins. That’s a showstopping fireworks display of its own, but I was insulted that Levine didn’t know the difference between Tweedle and Twinkle. Levine must still feel that the 2025 additions of Carlos Santana and Michael Soroka weren’t enough for a playoff-bound team residing in a large media market. You may, therefore, want to temper your expectations if you’re hoping Tarik Skubal or Sonny Gray and Aroldis Chapman are coming to Chicago.

Levine may be old and a little temperamental, but he’s got his ear to the ground as much as anybody. It’s a testament to Craig Counsell and his coaching staff that Chicago is 12 games over .500 with a pitching staff that would keep a MASH unit sleepless. On the flip side, Hoyer’s customary additions always land somewhere between the “Who is that?” and “I didn’t know he was still playing” categories. The key to a successful deadline at Clark & Addison is the obligatory low-ball bid in a seller’s market that gets uncomfortably expensive for a dime store shopper. You know the drill by now: We tried, we failed, but we believe this team is 2-4 wins better on paper with the guys we added.

Hoyer and Hawkins act like they’re witnesses to a Texas Guinan routine when talking with other front offices. Then again, you’d think the same thing if you were protecting the playoff chances of the 2032 team instead of improving the current club. Hawkins profiles like a man who is too gun-shy to simply go for it, and last year’s tone deaf soundbite was nothing out of the ordinary for an executive who admittedly expresses “heuristic discomfort” at this time of year. That’s precisely why Hoyer hired Hawkins, though.

“At the end of the day, you’re making a decision around this year’s playoff odds and future years’ playoff odds,” Hawkins stated in 2023. “And so, certainly, the exact record that you have doesn’t really matter if you get it down to that granular level.”

That type of circumspection will take the wind out of anybody’s sails, including the players and coaching staff. That’s the gist of Levine’s allegedly inadvertent but forthright tweet: On to the traditional second half of baseball in Chicago, where hoping results exceed expectations is a way of doing business. We are just 20 days shy of this year’s trade deadline. You may think Ol’ Bruce committed an epic faux pas, but I think the wily reporter knew exactly what he was doing.

Cubs News & Notes

Ball Four

Baseball’s only rock star executive. I wish he would come back.

Central Intelligence

How About That!

The American League won this year’s All-Star Game and Cody Bellinger was named MVP.

Kyle Schwarber is the National League’s best home run hitter, but he finished second in this year’s Home Run Derby.

An increase in bat speed is behind the recent surge of young players with unexpected power.

Pitchers are also throwing faster than ever this season.

Don’t expect much movement just because the Brewers traded for McCullers. Most experts believe the game’s bigger stars won’t be traded until deadline day.

Milwaukee agreed to send Jadyn Fielder to the Astros for McCullers and reliever Colton Gordon. Fielder is the son of Brewers star and six-time All-Star Prince Fielder, and grandson of Tigers star Cecil Fielder.

The Padres intend to be open-minded at the deadline and could trade closer Mason Miller.

Apropos of Nothing

These were the top five songs the last time Wrigley Field hosted an All-Star Game:

  1. Hold On by Wilson Phillips
  2. Vogue by Madonna
  3. U Can’t Touch This by MC Hammer
  4. Vision of Love by Mariah Carey
  5. Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinead O’Connor

Extra Innings

You may not be aware, but the Brewers badly wanted Townsend in this year’s draft. Milwaukee’s pitching infrastructure believes he could regularly sit at 100 mph or above with elite spin. It remains to be seen what he will do as a Cub, but with that coming from an organization that knows pitching, Townsend could be a first-round steal.

They Said It

  • “Hello Suckers! We like your money just as much as anybody else’s!” – Guinan
  • “Our record’s our record. I don’t have any grand stories. You guys write the stories about the first half. We’re trying to grind out as many wins as we can. That’s the job. That’s the goal. Keep trying to stack up wins.”- Counsell
  • “Pete’s shown everybody a lot of different versions of himself. I think we can all agree this is the best version that we’ve seen of Pete. Now, at some point in the future, he’s going to struggle, right? That’s this game. It’s to be expected. But I think he’s raised the bar for what he can do. That’s what the pitch discipline will do for him.” – Counsell
  • “I said it a month ago: I needed to play better. I’m looking forward to doing that and contributing to winning. That’s what I love to do. That’s what I’ve done my whole life, is win, so I want to keep competing and keep winning.” – Bregman

Wednesday Walk-Up Song

I bought an engagement ring for my girlfriend this morning, and was surprised I qualified for financing. I plan on asking for her hand when we go to New York in December.

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterJuly 15, 2026
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