AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

The Rundown Lite: Busch Faced Lefty, Turner Flashes Fake Nuts, Misiorowski Shoves, Pressly Saves

Photo of Evan Altman Evan AltmanJune 13, 2025

Okay, let’s see if we can knock this one out in a quicker fashion than usual. Friday home games mean the editorial cycle is more compressed, and I’ve got at least three pieces to publish before 1:20pm CT. The Cubs are coming off a tight victory in the opener that we’ll get to in a bit, and this afternoon’s matchup is a very fun one between Cade Horton and Paul Skenes.

One of the best things about these early games is that, as Mark Grace can attest, they leave plenty of time for other activities later in the day. Like going to see The Life of Chuck and then settling in to see if the Pacers can take a commanding lead over the Thunder in the NBA Finals. I’m not nearly as much of an NBA fan these days as I used to be, but I was a die-hard Pacers fan growing up. Even worked for them for several years when I got out of college.

My uncle worked in game operations for many years and got me on part-time operating the manual out-of-town scoreboards at Conseco Banker’s Life Gainbridge Fieldhouse. They’ve since been replaced by fully digital boards, but the original setup leaned into the retro aesthetic of the place. That meant having a team of two or three 20-somethings checking the other games around the league and climbing up behind those boards to update the scores a few times each quarter.

Sounds pretty simple, and it was…unless you were afraid of heights. In order to reach the north scoreboard, you had to traverse an open catwalk — just guardrails, but otherwise fully exposed — nestled among the big lights about 80 feet above the floor. Imagine being in the nosebleeds, except hanging right over the sideline. Though I was initially terrified nearly to paralysis, I eventually became able to stop and watch the action on my way back.

After a few years of that, I was promoted to the cushier gig of updating the score chyron on the video they’d use to review games after the fact. It was a pretty cool gig and I got to attend literally hundreds of games, but then some personnel changes and other responsibilities took me down a different path. So while I still have a deep and abiding love for the ‘Cers, it’ll never be the same as it was for me back then.

Now that I’ve sufficiently ruined the idea of moving quickly, I’ll pick up the pace.

Michael Busch platoon

There are times when I think Craig Counsell reads our articles or listens to our podcast and then does things just to spite me/us. That’s obviously not the case, but I had to chuckle when, just hours after writing about why Busch isn’t facing left-handed pitchers, Counsell had him in the lineup against the Pirates’ Andrew Heaney. It made sense because Heaney is a reverse-split pitcher, but Busch still went 0-for-2 with a strikeout.

I don’t think there’s much to this other than wanting to get Busch a little more action against lefties in the event that the Cubs need him to do so later in the season. He’s always been shielded from the top southpaws, particularly those who throw gas, so Heaney was a good option to get away from the standard platoon with Justin Turner.

Ah, but the long-tenured ginger still found a way to insert himself into the narrative of the game.

Turner’s Truck Nutz Moment

For a while there, it looked like the 40-year-old former Dodgers star was on thin ice in Chicago. But whether his production continues to improve or stagnates completely, it’s pretty obvious he’s a valuable member of the clubhouse. Pete Crow-Armstrong has grown particularly fond of his adopted uncle, and the two spend a lot of time walking through hitting philosophy.

“JT kinda walked me through that,” PCA said after the game about his second homer of the season against Heaney. “Just a lot of conversation, and it helps a lot at times.”

Crow-Armstrong’s big brother, Seiya Suzuki, has a strong bond with their uncle as well. His interaction with Turner earned the latter Marquee’s Fan of the Game Award, though the timing of the announcement was a little nutty.

Brewers prospect wows in debut

The Brewers called up top pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski to start Thursday night against the Cardinals, and he did not disappoint. Looking like Zach Greinke had a fight with a taffy-pulling machine, the 23-year-old righty blew the Cards away with five strikeouts over five hitless, scoreless innings. His fastball sat 99 mph and his 94 mph slider was nasty as well.

There was a bit of a scare when he rolled his ankle and was pulled from the game, but he told reporters afterward that he could have kept going. That’s not great news for the Cubs, who will likely face him next Wednesday or Thursday in Milwaukee if he’s indeed healthy.

They’ve gone up against quite a pitching gauntlet lately, and Misiorowski could end up right there with Skenes in terms of young pitchers who will harry the Cubs for years to come. I will say, however, that it’s always fun to watch elite talent, even if it comes at the risk of your team losing.

Pressly earns first save in 2 months

Ryan Pressly hadn’t earned a save since April 13 and had been replaced by two other closers, but he got an opportunity to close out the Cubs’ 3-2 win on Thursday. That’s because Daniel Palencia was used in the 8th against the Pirates’ 2-3-4 hitters. Even so, it’s good to see that Counsell trusted his deposed closer to pitch in a very high-leverage situation again.

For all of his flaws, Pressly has quietly been getting very good results since his implosion against the Giants on May 6. That outing produced eight of the 11 earned runs allowed this season, and he has given up just one unearned run in 14 appearances since. It might not always look pretty, but the only thing that matters is getting three outs before the other team scores.

With Palencia and Brad Keller performing well in the late innings and Porter Hodge coming back before long, the Cubs are going to have quite a formidable bullpen. That’s been the case for a while now, though they still seem to be overlooked. Assuming Jed Hoyer goes out and gets at least one more starter, we could be looking at a team that just needs to have a lead or be close through five innings.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone, I hope you get more sun than we’re expecting.

Photo of Evan Altman Evan AltmanJune 13, 2025
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