The Rundown: Cubs Bomb Buccos, Kelly Homers Again, PCA’s Star Rising Quickly, Yanks Break MLB Slugging Record
“Brut and charisma poured from the shadow where he stood; Looking good, he’s a crowd-pleasing man.” – Glamour Profession by Steely Dan
The Cubs finally welcomed Sammy Sosa back this year, and now Carson Kelly is on pace to hit 38 homers in a part-time role. Coincidence? It is, but Kelly is swinging a white-hot bat. The soon-to-be 31-year-old has seven big flies in 15 starts, plus a .370 BA and 21 RBI, with 15 walks against a scant five strikeouts. He’s also tied for the team lead in home runs with Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki. That’s how you block equally hot-hitting prospect Moisés Ballesteros.
Way to make Pete Crow-Armstrong, who also hit a home run in last night’s 9-0 win over the Pirates, irrelevant. That’s an overstatement, but Chicago’s offense is so relentless that solo accomplishments rarely merit a response, even when Dansby Swanson goes yard. The North Siders lead all of baseball in runs scored and are second to the Yankees in run differential, plus they have baseball’s easiest remaining schedule. Winning four of seven from the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks this month would have put the Cubs in the World Series were this October. It’s too bad we can’t Benjamin Button the season.
Chicago’s Sultans of Swing are a hot-hitting third baseman shy of being a veritable juggernaut, and, wouldn’t you know it, Matt Shaw had four hits for Triple-A Iowa last night. Never mind that only two left the infield. The calls may have been slightly generous, but it was Shaw’s first four-hit game as a professional nonetheless. The organization’s top prospect looked like he was lacking confidence earlier in the season, so perhaps last night was the boost he needed to reverse course. One more dying quail a week and you’re back at Wrigley Field.
Just one thing before I move on: The Cubs’ bullpen was lights out last night. Daniel Palencia, Caleb Thielbar, and Tom Cosgrove held Pittsburgh to one hit and one walk over the final four innings. The rotation is a bit of a mess, so Shōta Imanaga being okay after a mid-game scare spurred a huge sign of relief. Speaking of Iowa, Cade Horton continued his impressive start to the 2025 season last night. Horton, who envisions himself as a staff ace, tossed six quality innings to notch a 9-1 win over Buffalo yesterday. Best of all, he only issued one walk.
Here’s hoping the Cubs continue to give the Pirates the Billy Batts treatment. Matthew Boyd takes the bump tonight to face Carmen Mlodzinski. I like Chicago’s odds for another Pittsburgh beatdown.
Cubs News & Notes
- Chicago’s reconfigured lineup paid immediate dividends in last night’s win.
- The Cubs are “reportedly convinced” they’ve got to break the bank to extend or re-sign Tucker. That begs the question: If you extend Tucker, do you trade Kevin Alcántara or Owen Caissie?
- The Cubs have baseball’s best offense by a significant margin so far and achieved the exceedingly rare 40/40 month: 42 home runs and 44 stolen bases in April.
- Other than Kelly and maybe first baseman Michael Busch, no one is performing far out of line with expectations.
- Chicago’s North Side Baseballers hadn’t played a team with a losing record until last night.
- The Cubs have some tough games in the early part of May (Brewers, Giants, and Mets) before taking on the Rockies, Marlins, and White Sox in 12 mid-month tilts.
- Jed Hoyer still believes that Shaw is the team’s long-term solution at third base.
- Crow-Armstrong is the first Cubs player in team history to record at least six home runs, 12 stolen bases, 20 RBI, and 20 runs through his first 30 games of a season. Say Hey PCA!
- Crow-Armstrong’s elite defense is even better than it looks.
- PCA finally looks like the star most of us expected him to be.
- A scoring change on a ball hit by Shohei Ohtani to Gage Workman on Tuesday added three earned runs to Imanaga’s outing against the Dodgers.
- The Cubs have won 43 of 66 (.697) against the Pirates since baseball returned to full seasons after COVID. That includes those lean years with Frank Schwindel, Rafael Ortega, and Zach Davies.
- If the season ended today, the Mets and Dodgers would earn first-round byes while the Cubs would play the Reds in the Wild Card round.
- Prospects Live dropped its latest mock draft this morning and predicts the Cubs will select Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy.
- Aloy has above-average power that should translate well to major league pitching, according to Baseball America and Just Baseball.
Odds & Sods
The White Sox unveiled their new City Connect merch, and it appears owner Jerry Reinsdorf prefers to emphasize his ownership of the Bulls instead. This looks like Hell’s gift shop.
The Team Store is ready for you, Sox fans! pic.twitter.com/es442eLDAa
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) April 29, 2025
Central Intelligence
- Cincinnati (16-13): The Reds are promoting prospects Chase Petty and Tyler Callihan for today’s doubleheader with the Cardinals. Petty is scheduled to start the nightcap.
- Milwaukee (15-15): The Brewers and Yankees might be a fit in a trade involving Freddy Peralta. He’d look better in Cubs pinstripes, in my opinion, and he’d probably cost less than Sandy Alcántara or Framber Valdez.
- St. Louis (12-17): Thomas Saggese is hitting .341, but he’s sitting at the bottom of the Cardinals’ infield depth chart, so he was demoted to Triple-A Memphis. Masyn Winn (.231) might have been a better option candidate.
- Pittsburgh (11-19): The Pirates are in Year 6 of the Travis Williams, Ben Cherington and Derek Shelton management team, the on-field product is appreciably worse than it was when those three took over in late 2019, the fans are chanting to sell the team, and team owner Bob Nutting appears to be fine with it all.
How About That!
The Yankees are the first team in MLB history to open a game with three consecutive homers twice in one season.
A back-handed catch by Blue Jays catcher Daulton Varsho has been the talk of baseball this morning.
Texas starter Jacob deGrom earned his first win since 2023 with a dominant performance against the A’s.
Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo tied a team record with nine RBI on Monday night. He also belted two home runs.
Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. hurled a double-standard accusation at manager Brian Snitker.
Xander Bogaerts finally hit his first home run of the season.
Ex-Cub Brant Brown is the Cardinals’ new hitting coach this season, and one of his best pupils has been Willson Contreras.
The Dodgers placed Tyler Glasnow on the IL with shoulder inflammation.
Emmanuel Clase has been removed as the Guardians’ closer in favor of Cade Smith, though the change is expected to be temporary.
Tuesday’s Three Stars
- Ben Rice – The Yankees blasted six homers in a 15-3 win over the Orioles, and Rice hit two of them.
- Teoscar Hernández – The Dodgers’ right fielder plated four runners on a 4-for-5 night in a 15-2 rout of the Marlins.
- Josh Smith – The Rangers also scored 15 runs, but without the benefit of a home run. Texas had 18 hits — 14 of them singles — and Smith led the balanced assault with three knocks and two RBI.
Extra Innings
Get hot, Dansby!
Swanson solo shot. pic.twitter.com/ciGLHr7RHr
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 30, 2025
They Said It
- “Pitchers can put themselves on the radar pretty fast. It’s not just Horton. There are a lot of pitchers who can put their name on the radar fast. The best thing that’s happening with Cade right now is that he’s taking the ball every six days.” – Craig Counsell
- “I remember watching the really good Cubs teams and playing against the really good Cubs teams in ’16, ’17, ’18. They found a way to win the shootouts and the close one-run games. We’re trying to get back to that. When the wind’s blowing out, we can slug with anyone. But when it’s blowing in, we know we have great defense. So on the pitching side, just throw strikes, mix pitches, and let our defense work. On the offensive side, just run the bases hard, take the extra 90 feet, hustle on everything.” – Jameson Taillon
Wednesday Walk-Up Song
Baseball is so much better when the Cubs are good.
