CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MAY 07: Dansby Swanson #7 of the Chicago Cubs looks out towards the field before a game against the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field on May 07, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Griffin Quinn/Getty PITTSBURGH – The Cubs put shortstop Dansby Swanson on the 10-day IL on Friday with a sprained right knee. They activated Seiya Suzuki from the IL (strained right oblique) a day earlier than originally planned as the corresponding move. Swanson has been playing through the injury, which he sustained in the Cubs’ 3-1 win against the Astros on April 25, sliding into second to steal ..read more

Russell Elleven got a Chicago Cubs tattoo in 2015 as the team was ramping up for its historic 2016 World Series run. He covered up the Cubs logo tattoo with an owl last fall. Provided At 13 years old, Russell Elleven was out of school for months, recovering from the amputation of his arm and facing chemotherapy. Bored, frustrated and bordering on hopeless, one thing was sure to bring him comfort: the Chicago Cubs. It was the 1970s and he lived 993 miles from Wrigley Field. But the WGN superstation brought the Cubs to his home in Joshua, Texas, just outside Fort Worth. He was dealing with ..read more

Chicago Cubs third baseman Christopher Morel throws to first to force out San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. during the third inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Chicago. Erin Hooley/AP Photos The ball rocketed off Padres star Manny Machado’s bat up the line. At over 100 mph, it didn’t give Cubs third baseman Christopher Morel time to create a good hop. Instead, he handled an in-between hop to his backhand side and stepped on third base for the final out of the seventh inning Wednesday. “Big play, for sure,” manager Craig Counsell said after the Cubs’ 3-0 loss to the P ..read more

Cubs pitcher Hayden Wesneski delivers a pitch during the third inning on May 08, 2024 at Wrigley Field. Michael Reaves/Getty Cubs right-hander Hayden Wesneski’s quality start Wednesday was rendered moot as the Cubs were shutout for the second time this season in a 3-0 loss to the Padres . “I really think the fastball command has been really good, sinker and four-seam,” Wesneski said after limiting the Padres to three runs in six-plus innings. “And then I think the biggest thing in all this is I'm getting ahead. The first pitch, I'm getting ahead, and so it makes it to where they either h ..read more

Padres pitcher Dylan Cease, formerly of the White Sox and drafted by the Cubs, struck out 12 in seven shutout innings against the Cubs. Michael Reaves/Getty Cubs hitter Michael Bush wobbled in the batter’s box, a big swing on a back-foot slider throwing him off balance. Then Padres right-hander Dylan Cease came at him with a pitch up and outside. Busch stopped his swing early, but the slider ducked into the strike zone for a called strike three. In the Cubs’ 3-0 loss to the Padres, that’s how Cease’s outing ended. And Busch wasn’t his only strikeout victim – not by a long shot. The Cubs ..read more

Dylan Cease of the White Sox reacts after giving up two runs to the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 30, 2023. Rob Carr/Getty Images ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Right-hander Dylan Cease’s last season with the White Sox was, well, something. Certainly not fun, as Cease told reporters Monday at Wrigley Field. Not when you’re trudging to the cadence of a death march toward 101 losses. Not when you’re pitching to an ERA (4.58) more than double that of the previous season (2.20), albeit in an American League-leading 33 starts. ‘‘Last year wasn’t enjoyable, really, in any ..read more

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MAY 07: Shota Imanaga #18 of the Chicago Cubs delivers a pitch in the third inning against the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field on May 07, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Griffin Quinn/Getty When Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga was weighing his options in free agency last winter, Padres pitcher Yu Darvish was one of the players he turned to for advice. Imanaga said he asked more general questions at first, but once he picked the Cubs, a team Darvish spent three seasons with, they talked about Chicago. “He mentioned it was a great city, great fans,” Imanaga told the Sun-Tim ..read more

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MAY 07: Michael Busch #29 of the Chicago Cubs rounds the bases after hitting a walk-off solo home run in the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field on May 07, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Griffin Quinn/Getty A sheet of rain fell down from the sky over Wrigley Field. From the on-deck circle, the Cubs’ Michael Busch heard fans cry out in a mixture of surprise, dismay and jubilation as the weather set up a Hollywood ending to the Cubs’ battle with the Padres on Tuesday. Through the rain, Busch made his way to the batter’s box to lead off the ninth innin ..read more

Chicago Cubs’ Cody Bellinger runs the bases after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Chicago. He late left that game with fractured ribs. Erin Hooley/AP The Cubs activated center fielder Cody Bellinger from the 10-day injured list on Tuesday. In all, the fractures in two of the ribs on his right side, which he sustained running into the brick outfield wall Wrigley Field while trying to corral a deep fly ball, sidelined him for just two weeks. “I wouldn't say I'm fully pain-free,” Bellinger said before the ..read more

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Justin Steele throws against the San Diego Padres during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, May 6, 2024, in Chicago. Erin Hooley/AP Photos The cheers swelled as the crowd rose to its feet, Cubs fans sending off left-hander Justin Steele from his first start back from the injured list with a standing ovation. Steele’s face didn’t betray any emotion that might have come from his return. It was business as usual — and that’s exactly how he pitched. ‘‘Felt really good, especially pitching at Wrigley again in front of the fans,’’ Steele said after throwi ..read more