3 City Series takeaways for the Chicago Cubs — including Nico Hoerner's baseball IQ — as they head to Milwaukee

Chicago Tribune

28-07-2025

Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell went into Sunday's series finale at Rate Field hoping to get four innings from Ben Brown.
The right-hander, looking to move past a bad outing Monday, produced one of his best starts of the year in the Cubs' 5-4 win over the White Sox. Daniel Palencia recorded his first four-out save, taking over after Andrew Benintendi's three-run home run in the eighth. Pete Crow-Armstrong's two-run double in the first gave the Cubs a lead that for most of the day wasn't threatened.
'He gave us exactly what we needed, and he came up big time, for sure,' Counsell said of Brown.
Brown allowed one run in five innings without walking a batter, limited the Sox to three hits and struck out four on 57 pitches. Benintendi's home run in the first inning was the only blemish.
'The curveball has just really been taking a step up,' Brown said. 'It's encouraging to see swings-and-misses, especially first and second, no outs. Those are some of the at-bats I've struggled with this year. I haven't done a good job minimizing damage or stopping the rally and being able to get the strikeout is something that I need as part of my game.'
With the series victory, there are three takeaways from the Cubs' performance in the City Series.
Nico Hoerner's baseball instincts and IQ are among his best attributes as one of the Cubs' best all-around players.
That was on display against the Sox, especially during Sunday's series finale. Hoerner found multiple ways to positively impact the game for the Cubs: offensively, defensively and with heads-up play.
Hoerner suckered Sox second baseman Lenyn Sosa into attempting to advance by deliberately letting a popup fall to the ground in the third after the umpire signaled for an infield fly with runners on first and second. When Sosa took off for third, Hoerner easily picked up the ball and threw him out for an inning-ending double play.
'You're kind of always running through plays in your head and things that might happen and things that really only happen maybe once a season or less,' Hoerner said. 'But it's fun when that stuff lines up and we've got a group that likes talking the game. And so it's really satisfying to get extra outs like that.'
The double play gave Brown a big lift.
'I'm just super grateful that Nico's a teammate and the baseball IQ out of him is, I mean, it's Nico, it's just the way he is,' Brown said. 'It's through his veins, through his blood, like baseball, and no surprise, what he did there.'
Hoerner later turned a mistake into a positive for the Cubs when he was caught off first base on a back pick play. He forced a rundown causing Happ, on second, to go to third during the sequence. As Happ started to head home, the Sox abandoned Hoerner to try to get Happ. But as Happ retreated to third, he trucked into Colson Montgomery, who was in the basepath and called for obstruction to bring Happ home for what proved to be the decisive run.
Hoerner also forced Sox pitchers to work Sunday. His second-inning single off Sox right-hander Sean Burke capped a 14-pitch at-bat, and then he fought back from a 1-2 count in the eighth against reliever Mike Vasil for a nine-pitch walk.
The Cubs have given Matt Shaw plenty of opportunities to prove he should be their everyday third baseman the rest of the season.
After regrouping during the All-Star break and tweaking his stance, Shaw has taken off. Whether it will be enough to prevent the Cubs from acquiring an external, more proven offensive upgrade won't be known until the trade deadline passes at 5 p.m. Thursday. But Shaw is certainly making a case, beyond his stellar defensive work at third.
Shaw's RBI double in the sixth Sunday extended his hit streak to nine games, all after the All-Star break. In that stretch, Shaw is 12-for-27 with four home runs, 10 RBIs and just one strikeout. The rookie credits the mental reset and an adjustment to his batting stance — standing slightly more open — which he experimented with off a tee before the second half resumed, for helping him get on track.
'Mentally just kind of letting things happen and not pressing and putting a lot of pressure on myself, and just kind of playing with a little more freedom,' Shaw explained of his recent production. '(The coaching staff) has done a good job of continuing to believe in me, and so it allows me to go out there and play.
'I think I put a lot of pressure on myself, and I just realized that I'm motivated, and I love this game. I like playing the game. I don't need to add pressure.'
The Cubs' offense becomes deeper again with how well Shaw has been hitting in the nine-spot, especially with Happ and Kyle Tucker scuffling lately.
Left-hander Matthew Boyd's spot in the rotation was pushed back one day to align him to get the ball in a big series this week in Milwaukee.
The Cubs enter the three-game set that starts Monday night at American Family Field tied with the Brewers at the top of the division for the best record in the National League. They have done a good job not looking too far ahead, but there is no mistaking the importance of the next three days. The Cubs have put themselves in a great position, particularly with reinforcements expected to arrive soon with the trade deadline on Thursday.
The Cubs will start Boyd, right-hander Colin Rea and left-hander Shota Imanaga against the Brewers, who will send right-handers Jacob Misiorowski, Quinn Priester and Freddy Peralta to the mound.
'It's two teams that are playing really well, that have postseason aspirations and it feels like we're gonna be battling for the division,' Counsell said. 'It's still July, but these are big games. … We're going to go face a good baseball team and on the road, it's a big challenge and a fun challenge.'