Cubs news and notes: Cade Horton, Matt Shaw, Dansby Swanson
Cade Horton, Matt Shaw, and Dansby Swanson in the news today. Also a look at a rooftop case and other stories.
Does Jon Berti see Nicky Lopez in the rear-view mirror? Inquiring minds want to know.
Let there be a fog upon L. A. The Cubs are in Toronto to face another squad of bird-brains. Let's hope for a better outcome. The Pirates are next.
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Stephen J. Nesbitt and Chad Jennings (The Athletic {$}): Which MLB contenders have the toughest road to the playoffs? Breaking down the schedules. 'Teams are listed in order of playoff odds. Winning percentages are updated through Saturday.'
Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): First-place Brewers continue torrid pace, but Cubs remain focused on task at hand. 'We just gotta go out and play good ball.' Maddie Lee has more* {$}.
Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): Cubs takeaways: What we learned in series finale loss to Cardinals. '… when the offense is struggling, the smallest of mistakes looked magnified.'
Michael Johnson (WGN9): Slumping Cubs now 6 games behind surging Brewers in NL Central, but making NL playoffs still highly likely. 'The Brewers have gone on a tear that's now one of the most torrid hot streaks in recent MLB history, and there's nothing the Cubs could do about it.'
David Schoenfield (ESPN*): 2025 MLB playoff contender tiers: From locks to long shots. 'Rookie starter Cade Horton is emerging as a force.'
Jordan Campbell (Cubbies Crib*): Brutal injury wrecks Cubs prospect's chance to join big-league roster. 'Cubs prospect's MLB debut put on hold after brutal injury setback.'
Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Timing the key for Cubs' Michael Busch to shake slump. ''We dialed in all the mechanics all offseason [and] came in in a really good spot,'' hitting coach Dustin Kelly said Sunday.
Randy Holt (North Side Baseball*): Dansby Swanson has lost all semblance of plate discipline. '… Swanson's season is spiraling into something irrecoverable as he continues to lose all sense of it.'
Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}):A mental reset and a mechanical tweak has Matt Shaw among the hottest hitters in baseball. 'Shaw's turnaround is evidence that things can shift quickly in this game.' Jordan Bastian* has more. Matthew Trueblood reports. Maddie Lee adds on* {$}.
Michael McCann (Sportico*): Cubs' rooftop litigation could turn on 19th century barn case. 'The case is before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman…'
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Shane Steichen on where Colts' QB battle stands going into 2nd preseason game
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Arch Manning doesn't make Manning Award watch list
Arch Manning is the preseason Heisman Trophy favorite, but he's not officially on the radar of the award named after his family. Yet. The watch list for the 2025 Manning Award, which recognizes the nation's top quarterback, was released Thursday with 27 different quarterbacks making the cut. Manning, whose family is the namesake of the award, wasn't one of them. Manning entered the Texas program as one of the most hyped recruits in college football history and is taking over the starting job after two seasons of backing up Quinn Ewers. He was the favorite to go first overall in the 2026 NFL Draft, until his grandfather Archie said he expected him to stay at Texas for his senior season. There is a reason for Manning not making the Manning Award watch list, though. Every quarterback who made the cut saw significantly more action last year than the 21-year-old, who appeared in 10 games but started only two for Longhorns. The Manning Award's announcement makes clear that additional quarterbacks will be added to the watch list as the season progresses, and you would figure that Manning will be an easy choice if he performs as expected. And if he is one of the frontrunners, we'll see how he does with a voting panel that includes multiple family members. The Manning family might even be in on some kind of joke here, as Archie is directly quote in the release saying they will review the newcomers: "We're looking forward to another exciting year of college football," said Archie Manning. "I'd like to thank the Sugar Bowl for continuing to build the tradition of the Manning Award which now has over 20 years of honoring the top quarterbacks in the country for the entire football season. This year we have another great group on our preseason Watch List; in October, we'll review the transfers and other newcomers and then boost the Watch List with the best from that group." If you're curious, here's the full list of quarterbacks on the preseason watch list, which includes Penn State's Drew Allar and LSU's Garrett Nussmeier, the new favorites to go first overall in the draft next year. Manning Award preseason watch list Drew Allar, Sr., Penn StateLuke Altmyer, Sr., IllinoisCJ Bailey, So., NC StateRocco Becht, Jr., Iowa StateTucker Gleason, Sr., ToledoTaylen Green, Sr., ArkansasJosh Hoover, Jr., TCUBlake Horvath, Sr., NavyKatin Houser, Jr., East CarolinaKeyone Jenkins, Jr., FIUKevin Jennings, Jr., SMUAvery Johnson, Jr., Kansas StateColton Joseph, So., Old DominionHaynes King, Sr., Georgia TechCade Klubnik, Sr., ClemsonSam Leavitt, So., Arizona StateMaddux Madsen, Jr., Boise StateOwen McCown, So., UTSABehren Morton, Sr., Texas TechParker Navarro, Sr., OhioGarrett Nussmeier, Sr., LSUDiego Pavia, Sr., VanderbiltMarcel Reed, So., Texas A&MSawyer Robertson, Sr., BaylorLaNorris Sellers, So., South CarolinaBrendan Sorsby, Jr., CincinnatiNicholas Vattiato, Sr., Middle Tennessee
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Love's absence, Colts QB battle are feature attractions of joint practice with Packers
WESTFIELD, Ind. (AP) — Jordan Love showed up to Thursday's practice wearing a red jersey and a bucket hat, his injured left thumb in a protective cast. A short distance away, on a second field, Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones resumed their battle to become the Indianapolis Colts' starter. Yes, the joint practice between the Green Bay Packers and Colts just outside Indianapolis went just like any other training camp practice — with all eyes studying the good, bad and ugly of the quarterbacks. 'Had a torn ligament in my thumb and we did a surgery to repair it. So on the road to recovery,' Love said in his first public comments since having the procedure earlier this week on his non-throwing hand. 'If this was in the middle of the season, we probably would have been doing something that we didn't get the surgery on. But with it still being early, having time to recover and be fully ready for Week 1, the recommendation was for surgery.' The hope is Love begins working his way back next week and will have a couple of additional weeks to recover before Green Bay's Sept. 7 season opener against Detroit. Love said it hasn't been decided whether he'll participate in next week's joint practice with Seattle. So for now, Malik Willis is running the offense. Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst told reporters Tuesday that Love would be out at least a week. 'I think easing back into it, we might do some things differently just to protect the thumb for now,' Love said. 'That's one of those things where, after having the surgery, you don't want to go back out there and re-injure it before the season. So we'll be smart with it.' Love was injured on the final play of Green Bay's second series in last week's loss to the New York Jets. Initially, he said he didn't think anything was wrong, but he talked with trainers to see what they thought. While he practiced Monday, Love was making handoffs with his right hand instead of his left. Meanwhile, the Colts still haven't announced who will start their opener against Miami. Richardson is expected to get his most extensive action of the preseason when the Colts and Packers square off Saturday. Coach Shane Steichen said earlier this week he plans to use Jones for the first two series and let Richardson take most of the first-half snaps. That assumes Richardson stays healthy. He missed some of Indy's offseason workouts with a sore throwing shoulder, and then dislocated the pinkie on his throwing hand during last week's preseason loss at Baltimore. Trainers popped the finger back into place, but Richardson didn't take another snap against the Ravens because he couldn't grip the ball properly. By Saturday, he was back on the practice field. Jones and Richardson continued to split snaps Thursday, with both taking turns with the starters and the backups. But as another week nears its end, no starter has been named. 'I think that's natural,' Jones said when asked if he wonders when a winner will emerge. 'I think in this position, obviously, you're aware of it and are thinking about it. But I think you know that strategy for me and anyone in this situation is kind of focus as much as you can on what you need to do.' Colts coach Shane Steichen and Packers coach Matt LaFleur were watching more than just quarterbacks, especially after miserable opening-week performances from both teams. Near the end of practice, the Packers were credited with a sack of Jones, who then threw an interception as play continued. He was far from alone in making a mistake. 'I think our youth showed a little bit today in some instances with the injuries we have,' Packers tight end Tucker Kraft said. 'We're out here, full pads, expecting big things from some of the guys we're elevating and I think we just left some meat on the bone.' Injury report Colts receiver Josh Downs suffered a hamstring injury during the practice. Steichen did not have an update on the severity of the injury. Steichen also said defensive end Samson Ebukam has a back injury. ___ AP NFL:
