The Cubs aren’t going to complain about going .500 on a tough trip.
While they let a potential win or two get away from them on the six-game trip against the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, the Cubs head home to Wrigley Field trying to build momentum through the rest of a challenging April slate. Next up: their final regular-season games against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Dodgers.
The White Sox begin a season-high 10-game trip Friday in Boston. They’ll have four against the Red Sox, then head to Minneapolis for three against the Minnesota Twins and wrap up the journey with three in West Sacramento, Calif., against the Athletics.
Every Thursday during the regular season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Cubs and White Sox.
Sure, it wasn’t exactly the way a baseball player envisions collecting his first big-league hit.
But they all count, even one off a position player like rookie Gage Workman tallied Saturday in the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium off infielder Miguel Rojas. The Cubs’ 16-0 blowout was so significant in the late innings that Workman, 25, got another at-bat off Rojas in the ninth, slugging a two-run double for his first RBIs.
His first major-league hit was extra special with his parents and siblings making the drive from Arizona to attend the series in Los Angeles. Workman plans to give the ball to his dad.
“It’s nice to get that one out of the way,” Workman told the Tribune. “I’ve had a pretty good amount of success off position players through my career, so not a whole lot of stress going out there. It’s kind of like (batting practice), still getting your pitch, but it’s going to be there for you.”
Workman, a Rule 5 draft pick, didn’t have many chances to knock out a hit to that point. Tuesday represented only his third start of the season, all at third base. He credited the available resources to help him stay ready, whether pregame work with coaches, hitting in the cage during the game to keep warm for pinch-hit opportunities or getting feedback from veteran teammates.
Justin Turner has been among those helping Workman navigate his first experience with life in the big leagues and sporadic playing time. He commended how Workman has handled going from playing every day up to this point in his baseball career to the challenge of being a major-league role player.
“I don’t think people quite grasp the difficulty of the position that he’s in and honestly he’s done a great job, and he’s made the best of it,” Turner told the Tribune. “He shows up every day and he works his ass off and he’s got a great attitude, supportive of all the guys, and it’s been really good.
“Being a bench player is definitely something you have to learn how to do. You don’t just magically get good at it, and having conversations of understanding the game, where the game’s at, what spots he should be thinking about being ready for — he’s a very smart baseball player, so it’s not going to take him long to understand that, but the trick is going to be understanding what he needs to get ready and how to condense it so it’s not a lengthy routine to get ready.”
Turner believes Workman will figure out how to be a successful major-league hitter. The Cubs’ decision to option third baseman Matt Shaw to Triple A on Tuesday should give Workman more chances to prove he can stick in the majors. In his first shot, Workman went 1-for-2 as their starter at third in Tuesday’s win.
“We’ve been rooting for that, everyone wants it so bad,” Turner said of Workman’s first hit. “It is off Rojas, but it doesn’t matter, you have a hit in the major leagues. There’s millions of baseball players who will never, ever be able to say that. So honestly, maybe it’s a good thing you get the first one out of the way off a position player, and that frees you up a little bit when you take your next (at-bats) off other guys. You’re not trying so hard to get that first hit.”
Jordan Leasure entered in the eighth inning of Saturday’s tied game against the Red Sox.
His goal was to keep the Red Sox off the scoreboard. The right-hander struck out two in a scoreless eighth. He returned for the ninth and got two groundouts before exiting. The 1 2/3 scoreless innings served as one of his top outings of the young season.
“Just throwing a lot of strikes,” Leasure told the Tribune on Sunday. “Fastball was working really well and I was getting the slider to a good spot.”
The fastball and slider were playing off each other well, Leasure said.
“(Sunday) was a good step getting back into that mindset of just going after hitters, attacking them in zone (and) staying away from the walks,” Leasure said. “I think that will be my main recipe to have success.”
Leasure has a 4.50 ERA in seven relief outings. He has struck out eight in 6 innings.
“Really happy with where he’s at right now,” pitching coach Ethan Katz said Sunday. “He had a great offseason. And there were some things last year where he was just really getting into some tough positions with his arm and he could not leverage the baseball and balls were spraying on him.
“But right now where he’s at, I love to see that, because the breaking ball’s consistently getting down, the fastball’s getting up and he added the splitter. So really happy with where he’s at, just got to keep that going.”
Leasure, 26, looks to take the next step after having a 6.32 ERA in 33 appearances last season — his first in the big leagues.
“It’s just reminding myself that I have good stuff,” Leasure said. “It’s hard in this game to take a step back and realize how hard it is to hit — great hitters are successful three out of 10 times. Just not hurting myself and making them beat me, reminding myself that before the game, going into the game, on the mound.”
The Sox are in a stretch of 26 games in 27 days that began Tuesday against the Athletics at Rate Field. The lone scheduled off day during the period is April 28.
- Thursday: off
- Friday: vs. Diamondbacks, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Saturday: vs. Diamondbacks, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Sunday: vs. Diamondbacks, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: vs. Dodgers, 6:40 p.m., Marquee
- Wednesday: vs. Dodgers, 6 p.m., Marquee
The Cubs’ challenging April schedule goes beyond the quality of teams they have faced.
On their West Coast swing this past week, it also meant playing two of the toughest home teams, and they largely rose to the challenge. With their win Tuesday night at Petco Park, the Cubs became the first team in MLB history to snap two separate seven-plus game season-opening home winning streaks in the same year, according to STATS.
The Cubs beat the Dodgers on Saturday when they were 7-0 at Dodger Stadium, followed by Tuesday’s victory over the Padres, who were also 7-0 at home.
Entering Wednesday’s series finale, the Cubs owned the second-best record on the road with a .667 winning percentage and an 8-4 record, while in their five games against the Dodgers and Padres dating to April 11 they led the majors in extra-base hits (23) and owned the second-highest OPS in the majors (.827).
- Thursday: vs. Athletics, 1:10 p.m., CHSN
- Friday: at Red Sox, 6:10 p.m., CHSN
- Saturday: at Red Sox, 3:10 p.m., CHSN
- Sunday: at Red Sox, 12:35 p.m., CHSN
- Monday: at Red Sox, 10:10 a.m., CHSN
- Tuesday: at Twins, 6:40 p.m., CHSN
- Wednesday: at Twins, 6:40 p.m., CHSN
Chase Meidroth spent parts of three seasons in the Red Sox minor-league system.
The White Sox infielder made his major-league debut Friday against the franchise that drafted him, going 1-for-1 with three walks in an 11-1 victory.
“It was really fun competing against all those guys,” Meidroth said after Friday’s game. “I talked to them before the game on the field and playing against them, it was awesome.”
The White Sox acquired Meidroth as part of the trade that sent starter Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox.
Meidroth will get the chance to play at Fenway Park on Friday when the White Sox travel to Boston for a four-game series.
He went 3-for-7 with three walks and three runs in last weekend’s series against the Red Sox, including breaking up Crochet’s no-hit bid Sunday with a single to left field with one out in the eighth inning.
“Chase is a wonderful ballplayer,” teammate Brooks Baldwin said Sunday. “He doesn’t shy away from anybody. And he’s going to take his walks, he’s going to put the ball in play and play good defense.”
