Column: What to watch in July for Cubs and White Sox, including a Mark Buehrle tribute and City Series Round 2

Chicago Tribune

4 hours ago

June went by quickly for the Chicago Cubs, who went 13-13 and missed out on a chance to put some space between them and their closest pursuers, the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals.
But they avoided any prolonged skids and enter July in good position to make the postseason for the first time in a non-pandemic year since 2018. Soon we'll find out whether Cubs President Jed Hoyer can add pitching and bench help for the stretch run and whether the offense can continue to operate at a franchise-record pace.
The outlook for the White Sox isn't quite as rosy as that of the Cubs, but neither is the short-term goal. The Sox won three of their last four to go 10-16 in June and remain on pace for 108 losses, which would be the franchise's second-most behind last year's record-setting 121-loss team.
General manager Chris Getz will be a trade-deadline seller this month, though he doesn't have as many quality pieces to dangle as in 2024, when Garrett Crochet, Erick Fedde and Michael Kopech were all rumored to be dealt and only Crochet remained the rest of the season.
Here are seven things to look forward to this month for the Cubs and Sox.
This goes for almost every team, of course, but the Cubs and Sox might be part of more rumors than most because one is a motivated buyer and the other a motivated seller.
The question for Hoyer is whether he can acquire a big-ticket item no matter the cost. After missing out on free agent Alex Bregman in February, Hoyer said the Cubs were 'really close' to their payroll limit.
'We have a little bit of money for some small in-season things,' he said. 'But this was obviously a significant exception.'
Now that the Cubs are where they are, would Chairman Tom Ricketts let Hoyer stretch the budget for Mitch Keller or Sandy Alcantara?
Getz, making his second appearance as a trade-deadline seller, had an uninspiring debut last year while dumping Eloy Jiménez, Paul DeJong and Tanner Banks for minor prospects and keying on Miguel Vargas, acquired in the three-way deal involving Fedde, Kopech and Tommy Pham. Vargas has rebounded from a poor start in 2025 to turn a bad trade around, though he returns to Los Angeles on Tuesday in a slump with a .108 average and .403 OPS over the last 10 games.
Moving Luis Robert Jr. always was going to be difficult, and now Robert's 0.0 WAR and another hamstring injury could make it next to impossible for Getz — unless he just wants to cut bait, as he did with Jiménez last July.
Willson Contreras' return to Wrigley Field with the Cardinals this weekend is sure to stir emotions after he reacted poorly to being hit by a Daniel Palencia pitch in the ninth inning of a Cubs win Thursday at Busch Stadium.
Contreras later apologized for his actions, but whether Cubs fans will resort to booing the popular ex-Cub remains to be seen.
The Sox will unveil Mark Buehrle's statue July 11 in what should be a full house at Rate Field. Few players in team history have been as universally respected by fans as Buehrle, who not only threw a perfect game among his two no-hitters, but also pitched out of the bullpen in Game 3 of the 2005 World Series after having multiple adult beverages in the clubhouse, believing he wouldn't be needed.
Sox fans also will see slugger Dick Allen posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 27 in Cooperstown, N.Y. Even though Allen will have a Philadelphia Phillies cap on his plaque, there's no disputing where his heart lay. Allen was always partial to the South Side.
'It's better than anywhere I've been my whole baseball career, I might say my whole baseball life,' Allen told me in 2020, referring to his Sox tenure (1972-74). 'I've never been treated any better. You guys are the best for my money.'
The Sox visit the Colorado Rockies this weekend at Coors Field in a battle of not-so-super flyweights. The Rockies are 19-65 and on pace to smash the Sox's all-time losses record, but like the Sox, they also went 10-16 in June, which is bad but not abysmal.
It should be a close series and could come down to whoever wants it the least. The Rockies are 8-13 in one-run games, while the Sox are 5-20. The Rockies are averaging 29,454 per game at Coors Field, so fans don't seem particularly bothered by the losing.
With the All-Star Game being played July 15 in Atlanta, MLB is expected to announce this month which city will host the 2027 game.
It's the worst-kept secret in baseball that the Cubs are likely to be awarded their first Midsummer Classic at Wrigley since 1990. Act surprised anyway.
A rainout at Wrigley on June 18 spoiled the Cubs' chance to face sensational 6-foot-7 Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski, who throws 103 mph. They might not be so lucky when they face the Brewers again at so-called Wrigley North on July 28-30 in Milwaukee.
Misiorowski is 3-0 in three starts, allowing no runs on three hits with 19 strikeouts in 16 innings. Cubs starting pitchers were 9-10 in June with a 4.87 ERA, which ranked 24th in the majors and was well behind the Milwaukee starters. The Brewers added the rookie phenom and ranked fourth in June with a 3.22 ERA and 12-6 record.
The Cubs swept the first round of the City Series in May at Wrigley and have won a record eight straight against the Sox dating to Aug. 16, 2023.
The finale of the first series featured a minor eruption when Brad Keller hit Vargas with a pitch in the eighth inning with a four-run lead, upsetting the Sox infielder. Vargas hit three home runs in the series and said, 'I guess you face the price for doing good at the plate.' Keller, who briefly pitched for the Sox in 2024, said he didn't understand why Vargas was upset.
It wasn't exactly A.J. versus Barrett, but there's always a chance for a brouhaha whenever the Cubs and Sox meet.